EP 256 | Transformation Is An Inside Out Job

WITH ANDREA CRISP

“If someone is really, really committed to success in their life, then they are committed to doing the transformational work in their life as well. Because otherwise, they are literally suppressing, suppressing, suppressing to a point where at some point, it’s just all going to blow.”

— Andrea Crisp

I know that transformation is a big buzz word that is tossed around in the coaching industry -- so today I want to break it down for you. Answer any questions that you may have about whether or not you are experiencing the transformation you desire in your life. Because when you have transformation in YOUR life it spills over into every other area of your life -- your relationships, you business, your finances. It is basically the gift that keeps on giving.

Connect on IG: @andreacrispcoach + @the.couragecast

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Your mindset is your greatest asset! But it is also what may be holding you back from taking that next step in your life. Are you ready to reframe your mindset so that you can step more confidently into your purpose?

Are you ready to take courageous steps to create a life and business you love? Welcome to the Couragecast. I'm Andrea Crisp, and empowerment coach, author, and a multi passionate entrepreneur. For years, I was afraid to allow myself to shine. That was until I discovered that I could step into my own power, shift my mindset, and take ownership of my destiny. Now I coach people across the globe, who are ready to own their life and make a massive impact. With a blend of practical and spiritual advice. My desire is that the courage cast empowers you to take brave steps in your own life in business.

Hello, friend, welcome to the Couragecast. I am Andrea, I'm your host. And I'm really glad that you are going to be hanging out with me today, I want to talk to you about transformation. And it's like the perfect time of the year to talk about that, because it's just about time for the time to change. And here in Canada, well, least up where I am, things are finally starting to look a little bit more like spring is coming. And you know what, oftentimes, we neglect that we have to go through this transformational time in our lives in order for us to be ready for something new, a new season, a new opportunity.

And, you know, we think, Okay, well, I finally have gotten the healing that I needed, or I finally have the transformation that I desire, I probably don't need to do anything else. But for every new level of every new opportunity that comes your way. Transformation is required for you to be able to really hold capacity for that. And I know that transformation is a really big buzzword. It's tossed around in the coaching industry. I've talked about it a lot. So today, I want to break it down for you. And I want to answer any questions that you might have about what does transformation look like?

Because here's the thing, transformation, when it is authentic, it spills over into every area of your life. So that will affect your relationships with your family members, with your partner with your spouse, it's going to impact your business growth, it's going to impact your business relationships as well. Your finances, whether or not you are growing in your income, or able to pay down debt or anything really that you desire for your business and financial life. It's basically the gift that keeps on giving. And so I'm very passionate about this transformation that we go through. And since you're listening to the podcast, I can I pretty much can bet that you're somebody who is committed to transformation in your life. So you're not someone who is just like, wow, I don't know that I really want to, you know, do all that work. I know that you probably are someone who is digging in doing the self development, listening to the podcast, reading the books, working with people who are helping you get transformation here on life.

So when you seek healing and wholeness in your life, you want to do that not only for your yourself for you personally. But you also want to do it for your kids, for your extended family, and to leave a legacy behind. So I know that that is you because you're here today, you're my kind of person. And there are a lot of coaches who do preach about transformation. But then they really don't practice the transformation. So I decided to look up the definition of the word and here is what came up. Transformation is an extreme radical change, like full stop. So I looked at that I was like, Oh my gosh, extreme. Like that's pretty intense. Radical. Yeah, that's another intense word as well. And then change. So that means you are no longer the same. That is a complete 180 in your life.

So it's not just like kind of a change, or maybe a little different. It is extreme, radical change. And change can be scary. Let's just be real here. I worked with my friend Courtney who is also in like a fantastic business coach and story experts. And we did a VIP day together. And during that time, she talked about how she was struggling with change in her own life. And she wanted to grow her business. But really she didn't want change. When we dug into You like, what was the root of that, like, Where was this coming from, we discovered that she had actually grown up in a town that like really had never changed. And the people in the town, they don't change, they don't like change, they actually talk about how this whole entire, like area stays the same. And they kind of proud of it, actually. And she doesn't love that about the town. But she had also said that somewhere along the way, she must have adopted that belief.

So here, she was wanting to really grow her business, but having a subconscious belief that it's better to stay the same. And so, you know, when she went to go do things, her subconscious programming, was saying, no, no, don't do that, because you like things to be the same. And so she would end up sabotaging herself, every time she would go to do something, because she didn't want to have change. So that really didn't leave any room for transformation. So here's the thing, when you will have a radical extreme change, or transformation. It's all about reprogramming that old paradigm, or creating a whole new belief system, that change is good, that it is healthy, that it is necessary, and that it's beneficial for growth, and to expand for you as a person for you, in your business for you in your relationships.

And I know when I look inwardly at my own life, I've also struggled with changing things I've never, I have to laugh about it, because it really is, it's the truth. Like, you know, as much as I say, Yeah, I want to take brave steps, and I want to be courageous in my life. It's like, I really don't want to change, I really don't want things to be different. Because that would mean that I'm out of my safe zone. So even when, you know, there is potential for opportunities, I'm like, Oh, I'm gonna have to change this. And I have to change that. And just sometimes seems easier to deal with what I know, then what I don't know. Right? So like the expression says, The, you know, the devil you do know versus the devil, you don't know. And just even as I'm saying that, that's a belief right there that needs to be upgraded. So let's go there. I've obviously adopted a belief that it is better to know what possible negative challenge I'm facing, than to face another potentially worse challenge, right.

So it's better for me to know what I'm getting into than not know what I'm getting into. But that belief in itself, which is not great, I have to say means that I don't hold any room for expectation for something good. And that has been something that I have actively been working on in my own life just very recently is allowing more expectation for something good to happen. Room to believe that transformation is possible. So like, you see how I connected those dots, sometimes the subconscious is so ready to shift that all we really need to do is get curious about the possibilities, and see what beliefs may be holding us back from the transformation we desire.

So I gave the example of change, but it could be something completely different, right? And every time you're ready to go to the next level, or increase your capacity, or you really want to show up in a whole new way, there's probably going to be something that you need to release from your life. And, you know, we say okay, well, you know, I've already done the work. I've already done the mindset work friend, this is a journey. This is the long game, right? So when it comes to really having that transformation, we have to be in it for the long haul. And just going back to that expectation piece, like I've held this belief that I need to do something in order for something good to happen. So it's kind of like I do then I receive, but that's really not what holding expectation means. Holding expectation actually means that I'm partnering with the universe with God, the source the divine, and allowing good to come into my life. And that has been a real test for me lately.

So just the other day, I was scrolling through Instagram as you do, and I was like just looking at this fitness coach. And she was talking about the fact that for a really long time the fitness industry disconnected like the body portion of fitness and the mindset portion of fish fitness. It's easy for me to say. So the fitness industry was only focusing on the body. And in order to really have the transformation that people want, when it comes to their body and to their physical health, they really do need to have that mindset piece as well. Because it's an inside out job, right. So what happens first, in your mindset out works through your physicality. And this is proven to be true over and over again, when it comes to like health. When it comes to your fitness when it comes to your beliefs. Everything that you really desire is going to first start with your thoughts. And in order for you to manifest what you desire, you are going to have to have the belief and expectation that it is possible. And if you don't already have that, that is when you need transformation. And mindset is the key to every transformation.

So whether that's getting fit, losing weight, whether it's calling in a healthy relationship, an intimate partnership, getting out of debt, creating abundance, building a successful business, mindset is the key to your transformation. So sustaining any one of those things, so you have the transformation, and now you want to sustain it right. So sustaining any one of those keys comes down to having a mindset that is healthy and constantly expanding, allowing you to change, allowing for you to have continual expansion and growth in your life. That means embracing that you're continually transforming. So it's not just it has happened. And then it is done. It's like no, I continually transform and change. And that is okay. So when I first started my transformational journey, and you know what, I've talked about this many, many times on the podcast. But I won't go into that much depth here on this episode, but I struggled with anxiety and depression.

And I did the work initially to get relief from the symptoms of anxiety. And for a few years, I really did have relief, like it really did make a huge difference because I was in a bad place. And when I started to do the work it really, really like it was kind of like is this possible, like I can live like this, this is amazing. But the moment I hit another, like obstacle in my life, the stress started to come back along with the anxiety. And all of the sudden, here I was struggling with the same thing over and over again. And it honestly felt like it was worse the second time around. So I needed to dive deeper into my transformation, I needed to dive deeper into the root cause of what was really causing the anxiety and the depression.

Now, this is not what everyone has to do, I have to say, but it is what I had to do, and really meant that I had to identify what those limiting beliefs were what was causing me to be in this spiral. And I had to reframe those beliefs and start to embody the new belief. And not just stop there, it was imperative for me to release any of the emotions that were trapped within my physical body that were keeping me from having the peace that I desired. And so often, when we are in that kind of spiral of anxiety, all of a sudden, our body also takes on symptomatic physical, symptomatic things that almost make us feel like it's even worse, like we have brain fog, and we're lethargic. And you know, we want to sleep all the time. And it's like, so all those symptoms of the anxiety are being manifested through the body.

So we have to shift the subconscious belief. And then we also have to clear those emotions, we have to move them through so that our body is really able to get healthy again. So for me personally, when I did transformation, like now get ready to hear because I'm going to tell you about all the things that I did, because I've done a lot of modalities and they have worked for me for different reasons. And so I do want to share those reasons with you. In case you're like, yes, that resonates with me. So I started this is a long time ago like I started in college. I had my first counselor in college. And that's actually why I decided to get a Master's in Counseling was because it was such a beneficial experience for me. So talk therapy has been very, very good for me for getting my thoughts for really expressing my feelings.

And for, like really being heard, I have to say this, and I have to stress this because in the coaching industry, a lot of people poopoo therapists, and they're like, Well, you know, they're staying in the past, and they're just, you know, focusing on that, you know, what, there's something to really be said about someone holding space for you in a way that allows you to really talk through how you've been feeling and feel heard, feel known and feel seen, because that is not something that every person can do. A lot of times your friends can't do that your peers can't do that your spouse, your partner, your parents, they can't really hold that space for you. But a therapist really, really good therapists can. And so for me, that was a really important part of my process. So I worked with multiple therapists. Over the course of my life, I worked specifically with, you know, different kinds of therapists when I needed different things.

So it was really important for me to find somebody who worked in what I really needed help with. Then, I started working with a natural health practitioner, I talked about her as well, her name is Barb, she's a good friend of mine. And I really wanted to, you know, like, just really release the symptoms that I had been feeling because a lot of my stress and anxiety had manifested in my body. And I had come to her. And that's actually how I discovered that I had the anxiety it was because I was trying to get healthy, but I was unable to. And that is when I discovered, okay, this was the root of the problem in my body was actually the anxiety and the depression.

So we worked to really release toxins from my body to make sure that, you know, my organs were healthy. And that was a process that we went through, and I still work with Barb to this day. Then I was introduced to the neuro cycle by Dr. Caroline leaf. I love the neuro cycle. It is part of what I do within my own work, like personally, but also with my clients. And if you are interested in neuroscience, then Dr. Caroline leaf is like, amazing. I have two podcast episodes that I recorded with her. You can Google them and check them out. She is absolutely brilliant. But the neuro cycle helped to for me to process and release emotions and rewire my brain. So that is the reprogramming part because she talks about how the brain is rewired. And how it really establishes and can create new neural pathways.

Now I'm not a scientist, I cannot I'm not like really eloquent talking about it. But I'll tell you this, it is the coolest thing. Now the neuro cycle has been really, really helpful for me and has really like it was key in helping me to rewire and reprogram. But then I was introduced to neuro linguistic programming. So that is really using our language to reprogram our minds. And that was huge. And in my understanding of like how effective our language is to really help shift our mindset, as well as time techniques to remove those old stuck emotions from our timeline from our actual like,like earthly timeline, I guess, and some sometimes even going back generationally, even into past lives, which was a whole big stretch for me to learn that.

And then I also use hypnosis. And at first when I got into learning about hypnosis, I was like, Oh my gosh, this is like, Voodoo or something. And I was like, as soon as I started learning about I'm like, Oh my gosh, this is totally not it's just basically like, like guided meditations or affirmations but done specifically for you. And that to me was key. Okay, so I did not stop there. I also learned Emotional Freedom Technique, which is tapping. And that really has been super helpful for me on like a regular everyday basis like sometimes when I just kind of wake up and feel like Oh, I'm in this kind of like funky energy. That is one of the fastest ways for For me to shift my belief and really move the energy through my body is emotional freedom technique. And then I met a few friends who are Reiki practitioners, and I had a Reiki session and I was blown away by how they could clear my energy. So I have done Reiki as well. And then a friend of mine offered to do a breathwork session with me, and oh my gosh, I was like, What in the world, and because I'm a singer, and I've always really been mindful of my breathing, this really connected with me, and I started to see how the breath really helps us move through any kind of emotions that we're having, or things that are kind of not releasing from our lives.

It was great for me for creativity, and really getting the clarity that I needed. So breathwork, huge fan of that. Then I had to change my eating habits, my sleeping habits. And I worked with, specifically with relationship coaches, financial coaches, competence coaches, sales coaches, I took time to learn about the Enneagram. I'm an anagram one wing nine, by the way, and also learning about my human design. I'm a generator to four. Okay. And one more thing, Akashic Records, which was probably one of the last things that I have just more recently learned about and started to share with you here on podcast. Okay, so your mic, maybe thinking to yourself, Andrea, that is a lot.

Like that is a shit ton of things that you've done. And you'd be right, it is a lot. And that is not even including, like things that I did years past, in the church world. Like, that's a whole other thing that I've done. So as you can see, I am committed to my transformation, because for me, it is an inside out job. And the reason why I like to try different modalities, and I like to see what works is because I have clients that come to me, and you know, they need specific things. And not everyone is wired the same way. And so when I've experienced something, and I'm able to say, you know, have you tried this, or have you tried that, because I've personally tried it, and I know, you know that it works, and I can, you know, even share with them, like how it's benefited me, or share that modality with them. And that really is important part of this process.

Because all of these modalities, all of these things that we have access to give us opportunity for more expansion and transformation. And we have to find what is right for us in what season, which is like when my clients come to me that is how I work with them holistically, mind, body, and spirit. And so I take a look at like, what are their specific needs right now? And where are they at? And what do they need? And what modalities can we use out of this tool belt for them to get the transformation that they need in order to move forward in their business. And a lot of times, like they're stuck in like this overthinking pattern, and you know, can't really make decisions. And that is actually like stalling their progress in business, it's stalling them from making money from like becoming more successful. And like they're in this fear loop of having to go back to a nine to five. And so really being able to release some of those pressures, and really help them start to make those decisions quicker, and really feel good about it is key. So you don't have to do everything right. You don't have to absolutely be like I want to try every one of those modalities. I think they the key. Basically what I'm trying to tell you is it's just important to find what works for you, what is going to be something that really is helpful and beneficial to you.

And I know now, as I've been doing this, these techniques, when I need certain techniques, what is happening in my life to help me move forward. And I'm not I'm not like okay, you know what one and done like, I got it, and now I'm done. And now I'm transformed and now I'm healed and on to the next thing. And if someone says that to you, or that's what they're preaching online, or that's what they're saying. I gotta tell you this friend, there's a lot hidden beneath the surface. Right, if, if someone is really, really committed to success in their life, then they are committed to doing the transformational work in their life as well. Because otherwise, they are literally suppressing, suppressing, suppressing to a point where at some point, it's just all gonna blow. So, having said all of that, I encourage you to, you know, do some research around what would be beneficial for you.

When it comes to transformation, I listed a bunch of techniques, I listed a bunch of modalities. And if you're like, Okay Andrea, too much, definitely too much. I would rather just work with somebody specifically, let's jump on a call, let's chat about what you need. And we can kind of come up with a plan that is really tailored to you. Because there are probably things that you need that, you know, you're like, I need this, this, this and this, and I can help you to get that and really have the transformation that you desire in your life to be successful in business, be successful in your relationships, and be successful moving forward in everything you do. Okay, that was mouthful.

Thanks for hanging out with me. Make sure that we are connected. You can find me over on the gram at at Andrea crisp coach. Until next time, remember, you have everything you need to live bravely. If you liked this episode of The Couragecast, we'd love to hear from you. Leave us a rating and review and while you're there, hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. Original music production by Stephen Crelly

EP 255 | How To Sell With Joy

WITH MICHELLE ROCKWOOD

“Before we try and sell something to someone, we need to really understand the service part of it, and how they are kind of getting to know us and being in our world.”

— Andrea Crisp

Connect with Michelle: www.michellerockwood.com

Michelle Rockwood has sold real estate in one of the wealthiest communities in the world, has slept on a dirt floor in West Africa, and once raised a million dollars for charity over a single lunch. Now a personal coach and widely recognized sales expert, Michelle has helped hundreds of mission-driven coaches discover sales methods that feel fantastic, transforming their businesses and their lives. 

After personally hosting more than four hundred sales conversations and shifting entire sales teams into life-changing revenues, Michelle wrote Joyful Selling to share her knowledge with all the loving, heart-centred coaches our world so desperately needs. 

Connect on IG: @andreacrispcoach + @the.couragecast

Join Weekly Community Call: Mindset Mentor Circle

Book a Discovery Call: www.andreacrisp.ca/schedule

Are you ready to unlock your purpose and potential to step into your future self, now?

The Limitless VIP Experience is for you if you're tired of waiting for your time to come and you're ready to do the mindset work that will position you for a massive upgrade in your life and business.

Learn MORE

Listen Here:

Apple + Google + Spotify

Your mindset is your greatest asset! But it is also what may be holding you back from taking that next step in your life. Are you ready to reframe your mindset so that you can step more confidently into your purpose?

We all know that selling is definitely part of the business strategy. If you don't sell what you have to offer, you are not going to make any money and you're definitely not going to be able to help people with transformation. But for many of us selling can be difficult and feel really challenging. Today on the podcast, I'm speaking to Michelle Rockwood, the author of joyful selling, really talking about how we can be heart centered when it comes to selling our offers our programs, and really getting to a better way of Yes.

Are you ready to take courageous steps to create a life and business you love? Welcome to the courage cast. I'm Andrea Crisp, and empowerment coach, author, and a multi passionate entrepreneur. For years, I was afraid to allow myself to shine. That was until I discovered that I could step into my own power, shift my mindset and take ownership of my destiny. Now I coach people across the globe, who are ready to own their life and make a massive impact. With a blend of practical and spiritual advice. My desire is that the courage cast empowers you to take brave steps in your own life and business.

Michelle, thank you for being on the Couragecast, I'm really excited to see you, first of all, and to catch up with you and to chat with you. And also so excited for your brand new book to be coming out joyful selling, and I'm sure we're going to have an opportunity to talk all about it and how it is really revolutionising your coaching sessions and helping coaches really sell in a way that feels aligned with them and makes a bigger impact. So I'm excited to have here.

Thank you so much for having me, I'm excited, too. It's so nice to hear your voice.

You know, it's funny, like I was thinking back to when we first met. And it was actually through another individual who has been on the podcast, Rachel Weaver. And she is a human design copy coach. And I know that she has worked with you before. And she had put something out. And I kind of followed up on it. And we had an opportunity to work together. And it was so interesting, because it was not a really about selling it was more about relationships, which was so fun for both of us. But it gave me an opportunity to get to know you in a different way than maybe some of your other clients get to know you. And so for those people who are just hearing about you, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Yeah, thank you so much. So my name is Michelle Rockwood, and I am the author of Joyful Selling. And I'm a heart centered coach that helps life coaches sell in alignment without the sales IQ. And I've been doing this for about five years. And I started teaching coaches in training, which is right where you want to get them, right, because they haven't been surrounded by all marketing and all the sales tactics, the bro marketing and all the things, I'm able to teach them a different way to sell their services. So I have had the honor of helping hundreds of coaches now sell millions and services. And I also work as a high ticket closer which we need to change the name of this. But which means I sell high ticket coaching programs for companies. So yeah, that's me. And I'm so excited to share. I do have a new book coming out joyful selling. And I'm really it's been so much fun to start to share this book with my clients and others. It comes out here in just a few weeks. But yes, I'm excited to dive into all things sales and manifesting and all the things that you love to talk about on your podcast.

Yeah, you know, it's so funny because as you're just mentioning, the bro marketing, and I think to myself, I'm like, Oh my gosh, wouldn't that have been a game changer for me when I first started in the industry. This is maybe something you don't know is when I first started I actually invested in a coach that was really in marketing space and in funnels and I learned all the bro marketing stuff. And it actually paralyzed me for a very long time. And because I wasn't getting results, and the more I did not get results, the worse I felt about myself and this was already really like almost like tapping on my anxiety and depression that was underlying already. And this fear that I was not going to make it as a coach and that I had you know, I'm trying all of these things and you know, it's only been more recently that I've been introduced to more of a such a feminine way of sales. So I think to myself now, Mike, wow, if I'd had an opportunity to have this information, and have an opportunity to sell in a way that feels aligned with my with who I am, oh my gosh, like that would have been. That'd have been incredible. So I'd love to, for you to share. What does that mean like to sell in a feminine way?

Yes, I love you know what's so funny, I have to share with you as soon as I've put in my marketing, feminine sales, and that this is for women, right? Obviously, it works for men, and it's amazing. And everybody wants to feel this way. But Andrea, do you know how many men I have reached out when I say that? This is for women, it's just too funny. But feminine sales is if you think about let's just kind of compare the two here for a minute. So masculine energy, stereotypical masculine energy is out for the chase, right wants to go hunt, wants to, you know, kill it and bring it home. It's chasing, following up winning, getting a yes at all costs. Feminine sales is about receiving boundaries, a win win, and really serving and supporting the client no matter what. And when you can tap into that way of being, you can really be in service and support of the client, while feeling amazing every single time. And the goal of a sales call when you're bringing in a masculine energy is a yes. Alright, so think about how you show up to a call if your goal if you already have an outcome. And as coaches, that's against our code, right? Our code is, you're in charge. You're the one leading and I'm have died. And my role is to help you to come to a choice, whatever that is. And so when we can bring that feminine energy, that coaching mindset onto the sales call, we can serve the heck out of our clients and feel good every single time. Whether it's a yes or no.

And that feels amazing. It feels really, really amazing. I think back to what I did, in the beginning, it's like literally all these members are like flooding back to me right now. And, you know, going through the objections and working on how to overcome objections, how to get a yes. Almost twisting myself into well, what do you need me to be? For you to say? Yes. And, you know, I remember just thinking like, this is not working. And then I would have, I just was all over the board, because I would, I felt like I was flip flopping between what I was selling and what I was doing. And, and so I think that that makes a huge difference to think, okay, like, you know, a win win for the client and for the coach.

And that's really like that heart centered part of me yearned for that. And yet I was flip flopping all over the place. What would you say to someone who was coming into the coaching industry? Like, say, you're talking to me at the beginning? You don't mean like, wind? But I can get you? Yeah, much easier? Yes, I would, I would say and just how we sell is how we serve. And our relationship begins at the moment we say hello. And so if there is a disconnect, if you feel yucky, if you feel achy, if anything that comes out of your mouth is not yours is not authentic. It's not going to work for you for Heart Center coach. And the thing is that these bro marketer tactics, they work, they absolutely work, but they don't work for you. They don't work for me. Because we operate in integrity, we operate in alignment, if we hang up a call, and it didn't feel good, that's not a good day for us, even if they said yes.

And in a coaching relationship, what I think a lot of people don't get is that if you convince somebody to join your coaching program, you're going to be convincing them to show up to the next call to do the work, all the things it doesn't work that way in coaching. And so when you have allowed the person to and supported them and making a decision to get the support they need on a sales call. You've on boarded them properly. You've held fierce boundaries during the sales call where it's a limited period of time, you're only hosting at times that feel good to you. You've started to set the stage for a successful coaching relationship. And it goes on and on. You don't enroll misaligned people they don't impact people in your group coaching for gram, and so on and so forth. So that relationship and your clients success really begins at the moment that you say hello. When you think about the sales call being like the pre emptive part of the relationship, right? And setting boundaries. Often you hear coaches say, Well, you know, I want to protect my boundaries, and I'm going to do what's good for me. Because it's good for me.

And the way you said it, was that when it's good for you, then it's going to be beneficial for the other person. And I've never heard it said like that. Yes. And even, even like, so if you set a boundary, I take calls at nine and 11am. Because that's when I'm at my best and I'm fully present for the client. Well, if the client isn't available at nine and 11am, for a sales call, and are only available at five, we're not going to be a good fit to work together, no matter what, right? Because I'm just not at my best at five, my kids are home. It's crazy. So ironically, when you set up the call, right in a way that works for you, you attract to the right person. And you invite them to show up for themselves, right. So before a sales call, I'll send a little note and I'll say, hey, Ken, here's what I expect. I expect you to show up on time having read XY and Z material. And note that I don't reschedule this calls. And I so look forward to seeing you. Alright, so already saying, Hey, I respect myself, I expect you to respect you, this is the kind of relationship we're having going forward. And they sit up in their chair and go, Well, this is going to be awesome, right? And they show up ready and engaged to take that next step. Yes or no? Right. That doesn't mean I'm you know, manipulating. I'm just showing I, I have these standards, and in sale. So often it feels out of control, like we're chasing, and it never feels good to put out that chasing energy. So that's why of course, like you'd never want to call somebody at a time. That's right for them, you'd always want to meet in the middle, which is easy to do now with Zoom, right? We set these appointments, and we meet on a zoom call, we don't dial somebody on a Saturday and try to catch them to tell them about right.

Yeah, it sounds crazy now, but it used to be, you know, what we would do all the time? Sure, I'll try you at four, you know, yeah, no, don't, don't try me. I will not pick up there, there are very few people that I will pick up the phone for.

And generally speaking, I know if someone is calling me it's usually for a reason. And it's a good friend, and they need to get a hold of me. So there's, there's nothing else that I'm that I'm taking that call for. And I love how you're talking about really setting that early stage boundary at the beginning, honoring yourself being in that energy for yourself. One of the things that, you know, so many coaches kind of struggle with is this, you know, feeling of wanting to be in their feminine energy, right, like so setting these feel good moments for themselves, almost like a manifestation, right? I want to manifest clients. And then and I would love to know, your take on this. The manifestation and there's, you know, which people mostly think is feminine, which I think is just, you know, I don't know if it's feminine or masculine, it just is. And then there is the action taking, which is the masculine, so to speak, how do people operate in both in a feel good way that would be maybe neither feminine or masculine, in terms of action, taking in terms of selling, and, you know, really manifesting a client, so maybe they're thinking about, I would like to have this amount of clients, I would like to sell this program. Well, what we really want, ideally, is a blend of the feminine and masculine. And so often, we lean too far into the masculine. And we always want a balance of both. So what does masculine have that we want? Right? Bold, speaks the truth, says, you know what's on their mind. And then when you can step into that on a sales call, and you can say, instead of, you know, instead of saying, hey, nothing's gonna change a week later, like, how about we make a decision today or what's going to be different A week later, right? So you you pull out that bold and but boldness, and that thing you want to say and you speak your truth, which feels good, but you also use your coaching skills and you soften it in a way that the client is able to land with and that feels good to you. And that takes a little bit of practice.

So this is just on a sales call to begin with, like, I'm imagining someone is sitting back there coach, they have a program that they want to offer. And they're, you know, sitting around thinking about, I want to manifest three people into this program.

And then they sit there and they're manifesting, right? Where does the manifestation process come in? And where does the intentionality around action come in? Yeah, yeah. Well, manifesting is wonderful. I manifested my house, I have to tell you that story later. Yeah. And it's my dream house. And it's wonderful. And for me manifestation is, you have a vision of what it is you want to bring in.

And then you take bold and aligned action that feels good to you. So a feminine approach to action taking would be what are, you know, three ways in which I could bring clients into these programs? Sit here for a minute feel into which one of those ways feels aligned? And then take a step forward to do that. A lot of times we look to fill our program or we're ready to sell before we figured out which way to attract people feels good to us. We simply reach out and copy. Yeah, we were telling him off the bat. Yeah. So you you skipped a step, right. You said, How do I fill my program? What feels good to you to attract people to you is the step prior. And so exploring that, without even the intention of enrolling people is a really good first step. And it took me a long time I got to it. It's my book. Right? It doesn't feel good to me to chase to prove to teach. And so I say, Hey, here's a book. It's cheap. Read it. Read the first chapter, even if this aligns with you, if this feminine approach to sales feels good to you. Awesome. And now, I go crazy, sharing this book with everyone. It took me a long time to figure out that that was going to be the way that felt good to me. Right, I first did webinars, and then I did train means and then I did you know individual called like, on and on and on. So what we feel is good too. And really thinking outside the box, we only need and I I'll tie I talked about this in joyful selling when you sell a client coaching partnership, instead of single sessions or packages. Typical coaches want to make between 50 and $100,000 a year, the average coach, but instead they're seeing and following practices on how to make a million dollars. Right. So instead, when you just sell to a few people a month, you don't need to post like the Kardashians or advertise like Coca Cola. Yeah. Instead, you can go into a moms group, you can host an event around mindfulness, and tell people to reach out if they want to learn more about how to work with you, stat, if you're a personal trainer, right, you can host an event in the neighborhood, show people some things, ask them to reach out to you. So you try these events, or you try podcasts. Maybe you love going on podcasts. So instead of posting like a maniac, like your marketing person tells you to do. Instead, you find an online podcast once a week, and reach out to them to get onto it. So that's really a feminine approach right to marketing is what feels good. I'm gonna make it feel effortless. Can I give you another example? Yeah, absolutely. I love networking. I love meeting new people.

These one on one calls with people was just too much I couldn't fit it in between sales calls and all the things.

I had the idea from someone else to do a monthly meet and greet. Turns out, this is my jam. I prepare nothing. I have no expectations. My only insistence is for people who come under this meet and greet once a month is that they pick one person and that they commit to supporting them.

Everybody loves it. They come back week after week it grows and it grows. I have friends that are helping with podcast. I just it's the most joyful event. And so through trial and error through thinking how these one on one calls don't look good. What's another way? Oh, I could turn what that person's doing into something a little different and make my spin on it. And that's the exploration that needs to take place. Before we really work on developing a marketing plan. What feels good to you and that exploration. Give yourself six months you don't know what feels good to you until you do it. Don't jump into that $10,000 program on how to host webinars you don't even know if you'd like webinars are running for Facebook ads, right? Or any of those things? Yes, figure out what feels good to you. You might love that. Right? You might love that. But figure out what feels good to you. And when it feels good, and it's in alignment, that's a feminine and masculine is coming together that action taking with that? Oh, hell yeah, I show up for a meet and greet hot damn, who's gonna be here? Right? And it just turns into something so wonderful. Okay, so I have a question like a follow up to that. So say you have a thought that comes to you. You're like, I want to take action on that. And then you don't do it.

So what happens after that, like you, maybe you've gotten the inspiration? And you're like, oh, I should do this? And is that something you can revisit? Do you think it's still something you should be? You know, taking a look at later on? How important is the action step like to do it immediately after you have the inspiration? So I love this question. And this is a really hard thing for coaches for smart people, you get distracted by all the shiny objects.

Every single week, every single day. We call it a red dot for the marketing program that I that I sell for what is your red dot? What is your focus, and do not deviate. And if you need to spend a week figuring out what that focus is, it is so important that you decide if those meet and greets are your jam, like you go all in on those, it doesn't mean those other ideas aren't important. And find a way I have a whiteboard here. And I list them all right, but my red.is circled. And until I've taken the day to focus on that I can't go to anything else. So it's so important to work smart to work smarter, not harder, right? What does that mean? That means really thinking what of these activities is going to bring you the greatest results? And it's often not focusing on social media, right? It's often calling five mom groups and saying, Can I come and speak coming in to eight rotary groups, right? And saying, Can I do a mindfulness exercise for you, whatever it is. So really think about of the five things you want to do, which one is going to yield results the fastest. Put that as your red dot, that's your focus. And until right, you wear it out or you decide to move on, then your next red.is your focus. So that is how I operate. And action. I love there's if it's a really good idea, I was telling my husband that's this is almost one of my superpowers. There's almost no, in between between idea and action. For me, when it's a good idea, it is happening. Right? Like at like immediately that meet and greet. I was like,done. It was such a no brainer. I immediately took action made the page, had people say no, you know, it's so funny. You mentioned the meet and greet. Because I think you and I had a conversation about this. And it was a while ago. So I mean, this could be from your very podcast, and from the person that you know, had the conversation with you. But I was listening to an episode in your podcast, and this woman was on there talking about how she does these kind of meet and greets? Yes. And I was like, this is exactly what I need to do.

Guess what I didn't do?

The meeting room. I didn't take action.

So here's what happened. I was working with a coach at the time. And I was talking about what I wanted to do. And I said, Oh, I want to do this. And it was met with hmm.

And then I didn't take action.

Because someone immediately was like, Oh, I don't know that, you know if that's going to work. And my intuition when I was walking and listening to your podcast and thinking, Oh, I have all these people and it's not working, this would be a great opportunity for me, blah, blah, blah. And then I mentioned to my coach and my coach, you know, said this, and I was like, Oh,this is not the thing. Well turns out a friend of mine, she has started she totally pivoted her business. And she's doing this networking. And she's inviting these people and they pay and they come to these, you know, opportunities or whatever. And I was like, well, Damn, that was my idea.

And, you know, and it was almost like this is actually just came up like within the past week. And I thought about it again and I thought, well, maybe this is for a reason. Maybe this meet and greet thing is come back up. And what she's doing is a little bit different. And then here you go and talk about it and I'm like, okay, maybe the universe is bringing it back and be like, okay, so you didn't listen the first time.

Maybe listen the second time.

Whenever somebody thinks something comes up three times, yeah, I have to take action on it. Somebody told me in the same week, three people, including my brother, who's an entrepreneur are very successful. To write a book, I had to do it.

But what you're saying and you're describing from your coach is so common. And any marketing technique works, what works for you. That is your goal. That is your area of exploration. And once you find that you'll be unstoppable. Almost like my kids, I feel like my job as my parent as a parent is to figure out what their little superpower is right? What their little interest is. And when you find that, right, my kids in like sports until we figured out he was into soccer. Right, the other one, we couldn't figure out a sport. He's not very coordinated. And we figured out he was in declining. Yeah. Right. And now he comes in bragging about a six pack, right? Like, he's like, my hours. Yeah, I feel my muscles. And so it's the same with coaching, right? You don't know what you don't know, there is something for everyone. And a nice way to figure this out, Andrea, when I work with clients is my one of my mentors, Laura, I bought in my coaching, she would always ask this question, what's the most ordinary thing about you?

And I actually lead the meet and greets this way. And from that, you can often tell where their clients will come from. Someone said they knit and they love to knit. That's a very ordinary thing about them.

And I know if I speak to her further, there's knitting groups. Knitting is a really big online thing. All right, like, Hmm, could you have a knitting circle where you talk about manifestation or coaching or breathing techniques? Right? So how do we infuse into what we're doing every single day, and make it not feel like work that meet and greet, I don't prepare at all. I look like crap. I just, you know, I took a bio break at the beginning of it last time, right? I'm not I'm not on hate being on or presenting. I also love when other people feel served, I don't want to ask people for for something until I've given. And so in that meeting, great. It allows me to naturally work within my human design, right and serve people, before I receive, I always make sure everyone served. That's beautiful. And just a great reminder, that before we try and sell something to someone, that really understanding the service part of it, and how they are kind of getting to know us and being in our world. And similarly, and I always find that the people who I end up having the best results with as a client coach relationship are people who if they found me through something, and they have established trust with me, versus somebody who just kind of came. And, you know, Oh, I saw this. And I came and I'm like, and then we just never really established that, that connection with each other. But I never thought of it that way. As you know, there's something in the middle part of it. So that that's amazing. Now, go ahead.

Think about how you feel after serving that fully aligned client. You are flying high. You're telling everyone about it. You're posting testimonials. I can't tell you I have Voxer. And as a bonus for my programs. If you enroll and during a certain period, I'll give you Voxer support even for the self study, the people who found me like you're describing right and why you tracked it just the right way. I will Vox them all day long, right? Oh my gosh, I can't wait to do it. And it just feels so good. I want to tell everyone about it. So enrolling, convincing using that masculine energy to get people in your clients. There's a snowball, and now you feel crappy at the end, they don't get the results. You question? Am I a good coach, and you got a business. So it's like, you're so screwed if you don't sell in integrity and alignment in a way that feels good to you. And it takes just a little bit of learning. Yeah. Now I would love to talk a little bit about money. If that's okay.

I love money. Money loves me too.

What would you suggest to to your clients and to anybody who is really selling a program that maybe is is struggling with The idea of making an impact, sorry, the idea of making an impact and an income and calling in abundance into their lives. I've had the pleasure of leading some really amazing sales teams. And we need to all myself included myself, especially do the inner work of sales, and really get right with money. And we don't need to spend weeks or anything, but we really need to understand our own money story, so that we can set it aside. Now, when we come to coaching, we work to not bring our own biases to the conversation. And when you come to a sales call, we work to not bring our own biases to the conversation. So how I spend money,I put every single thing for the entire month, all the bills on one credit card. At the end of the month, I paid off. I came from a family. This is just my money story. And as you're listening to mine, think about what's yours. To the listeners, right? I came from a family who they were I call them the richest poor people I ever met.

They could afford anything, nothing stopped them come hell or high water. Nothing was off limits. They did not they could not afford anything. Right. But in their mind, yeah, right. They could afford anything. And I came up with that mindset. Now my spouse had a different mindset, not worse, just different. And that was we save up to pay for things we desire. We have a nest egg, and we keep money in the bank. Right? We live well underneath our means. Neither are bad, they're just different. And those are our money stories. And understanding your money story is really important. So that you can set it aside on a sales conversation, and let that person have their own experience. I also really like to help coaches start to think about how they talk to money. Because so often we blame money for our problems for our lack of happiness, or inability to XYZ. But instead, money is keeping the lights on the computer on in front of us the gas in our car. And so when we can shift and I have a chapter in my book with these exact exercises that you can go through, and it won't take long, when you can just one fun exercise you could do is when you shift how you talk to money. And you notice every time you play money throughout the day, you just put a check in the note section of your phone. And you'll notice that you've checked 10 or 15 times somebody asked you to a movie and you said, Oh, I can't afford that. You thought about going to Starbucks and you said I need to need to save a buck or two. Right? Your spouse asked you to go on a trip and you said Do we have the money for that? But the truth is, you didn't really want Starbucks that bad. The truth is, you didn't really want to go to the movie, right? You figure out and you do what you can afford. So instead, if you just have this little talk with yourself and say, I choose not to have Starbucks today, I choose not to go to the movie today. I actually don't want to go to Cancun, I'd rather drive to Vegas, and start to just think differently. And that's actually speaking the truth. Yeah. Right. So it's like, do remember the movie liar? Liar? Yeah. I remember Jim Carrey, he would, yes. Like we're aging ourselves here. But he would go through life and just suddenly speak the truth. And that's what happens when you stop blaming money. And it feels amazing. And so when you can stop doing that for yourself in the day to day and you'll be fat, you'll be surprised at how quickly you'll notice yourself doing this. And how fast you'll turn it around. That when your client says, I don't know if I can afford this. You'll instead of going oh, I know you have all those bills to pay, edited it up. You go. Tell me more what feels good about this program? And what feels a little bit tricky.

And you'll come to the conclusion, right? That has nothing to do with money. We're not sure if they have the time. Awesome. Let's talk about the time and what time commitment this takes and darted into that right now you're having a real conversation. And it's actually very rarely about the money.

Okay, that was a long winded, long winded but it does make sense, right? Because I think that if, if we don't have a handle on our own money stories, and it's really hard for us to take a separation between what that person is, you know, going through and what we're feeling and oftentimes to a coach, if a person is not wanting to sign or take advantage of the opportunity, then they immediately take it personally and they I'm gonna be broke for the rest of my life, and then they jump back into their own money story. Whereas a lot of this has nothing to do with them. It really is about the other person and just holding space for that person to be able to process through. How much of that? Do you suggest they process through on a sales call versus not doing that creating a boundary there?

So help me understand the question, how much do they processes? Yeah, so any story or the clients money story, say they say there, there is a person on there and they have their own money story. And they're, you know, they're coming up with some objections. How much do you suggest people actually walk them through that process on a sales call versus actually doing quite a bit? Okay. Yes, no, I think quite a bit. And the thing is, is when you don't believe their money story, you serve them, because they've been lying to themselves. Right? So if you say if they say I can't afford it, and you believe what they're saying, right? They're blaming money. They're actually saying, I'm not that interested. I have questions. It's like a child. My child often says to me, Mom, I hate you. I hate you. Does he hate me? No, he's saying, right. If I could put a translator on him, I love you so much, I need a hug. I feel insecure. So if I respond to the child going, don't say you hate me go on timeout. I hate you, too. It's ridiculous. But instead, I know my translator. And I say, Oh, baby, come here. You need a hug. I love you so much. That's my response to I hate you. And so when somebody says, I can't afford it, you are the translator, this becomes your superpower. And I teach you this all and joyful. Sally, you can do this. You'll have a superpower, where? Oh, what they're actually saying, I'm unsure about this. I'm not sure if this would work for me. I have questions. So instead of responding to their diversion, yeah, you cut through and you ask the real question. And yes, our Money Story, we get into a little we don't want to coach a client on a call. And that's really, really important is you don't want to coach a client around the problem they're having, you want to coach them around the choice to get support around that problem. And that's actually the fastest way to lose a sale is to start giving somebody advice, tips, let's go deeper on that. So I don't want you to do that with a Money Story. But we are going to be able to have really open conversation conversations about money investment, spouse, those kinds of things, because we're gonna have done the work ourselves and feel really good. Okay. Yeah. So your question, I guess was, how much do you coach them around money?

The answer is, I mean, you're coaching them around the decision to make a choice, not on their money mindset or anything specifically. Yeah, absolutely. By and by you having the skills and having done the inner work, you're able to cut through their BS, and that in itself is going to be refreshing to them. You're not feeding the beast. Yes. Yes. And then if they get to make the decision, if that's a step that they want to take. Yeah, it's clear, yes. What the choice is, yes. And they're not blaming anyone else. And so when you take away money, and you could literally say, Let's take money out of a conversation for a moment, is this a yes for you?

Great.

You know, and they'll say, Well, I'm not sure about time, or will this get me the results, or I've done X y&z before. Awesome. Now you can have a true authentic conversation, versus this BS conversation about how they can't afford it. Right? And really then presenting the solution to them, of what you offer as a coach. Yes, absolutely. Which in, in most respects, anyways, is to be self LED. And for them to be able to, you know, learn how to trust themselves, to be able to do things and, you know, source source information for themselves and source the solution for themselves, and you're guiding them to that. So that's amazing. So when does the book come out? The book comes out March 7, and it will be available on Amazon. Yes, it's called joyful selling a better way to Yes, for heart centered coaches.

And my podcast is by the same name joyful selling so you can get some good stuff there. But the book, Andrea, I can't tell you enough. What great feedback I've gotten so far. And people are like, how were you surprised? Like, I don't know. I you just didn't anticipate.

To give you an example a GAO got on a call with me a complete stranger.

Tears, held up two pages of notes. And was like, I'm the girl in the story. And I thought there was a camera on me. I was like, Is this true? Is this like what is happening? And she said, Did you write this book for me? She's a coach did you write this was it's as if you wrote it for me. And I was like, Honey, I wrote it for you. You're the one I wrote it for. Because bro, we don't need to sell like a man. We don't need to make seven calls to get a yes. We don't need to feel slimy, or achy or lie in bed like I used to trying to turn a maybe into a yes, there's a better way to guess that feels amazing. And brings us incredible income and incredible results for our clients. So yes, march 7, it is out on Amazon, you can get it at Michelle rockwood.com as well. Very exciting. Well, thank you for being on the courage cast. Today, I will put all of your links in the show notes so that people can connect with you. And I know that you're on LinkedIn. So that's where you can find Michelle is over on LinkedIn. That's where she kind of hangs out. But also I will put all of her links in the show notes and as well as a an Amazon link, so that you can grab her book as well. So thank you, Michelle, for being here. Thank you so much. Hope you have a great day.

I want to thank Courtney for being on the courage cast today for sharing her own personal transformation moments. If you want to learn how you can tell your story in a way that feels really authentic and aligned to your vision and your mission. Reach out to Courtney and friend. Thank you for being here today. Until next time, remember, you have everything you need to live bravely. If you liked this episode of The Courage cast, we'd love to hear from you. Leave us a rating and review and while you're there, hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. original musical production by Steven Crelley.

EP 254 | It Is What You Accept

WITH ANDREA CRISP

“When we allow ourselves to release those emotions, release those fears, then we can take those steps forward. And that means forgiving ourselves, forgiving others, and really moving forward, despite the circumstances. ”

— Andrea Crisp

Sometimes it's the smallest shifts that make the biggest change in our lives. Today in the podcast, I want to share with you what I have been learning about the words that I speak about my life, my business, and how subconscious programming really runs the show. And when you start to uncover what it is that you've been thinking, how you can change it, and how you can expand to grow your life in business.

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Your mindset is your greatest asset! But it is also what may be holding you back from taking that next step in your life. Are you ready to reframe your mindset so that you can step more confidently into your purpose?

Sometimes it's the smallest shifts that make the biggest change in our lives. Today in the podcast, I want to share with you what I have been learning about the words that I speak about my life, my business, and how subconscious programming really runs the show. And when you start to uncover what it is that you've been thinking, how you can change it, and how you can expand to grow your life in business.

Are you ready to take courageous steps to create a life and business you love? Welcome to The Couragecast. I'm Andrea Crisp, and empowerment coach, author, and a multi passionate entrepreneur. For years, I was afraid to allow myself to shine. That was until I discovered that I could step into my own power, shift my mindset and take ownership of my destiny. Now I coach people across the globe, who are ready to own their life and make a massive impact. With a blend of practical and spiritual advice. My desire is that the courage cast empowers you to take brave steps in your own life and business.

Hey there, welcome to The Couragecast. My name is Andrea, and I am your host, and I am thrilled that you are here. Over the past few weeks, we have been talking a lot about the VIP limitless experience. And it is something that I am so excited to be offering to you this has been completely transformational in my own life, as well as in the lives of my clients who have already taken part in their VIP experience. And I want to make this available to you. And so even though today I'm going to be talking about something that is a little bit different, if you are looking for something that is going to help you step into your full purpose and potential, and you're really tired of going through the same thing over and over again, then I would encourage you to check out the limitless VIP experience. This is something that will really transform the beliefs you have about yourself about your business, and help you to take aligned action in your life. And it is a great opportunity to accelerate the process.

And when people ask me what the difference between this and long term coaching is, is long term coaching, we really dive deep into the transformation, and really shifting subconscious beliefs on many levels. Whereas the VIP limitless experience is really more about empowering you to take those next steps in your life. And really to step into that next level potential for yourself and for your business. And so I will put the link in the show notes, but you can go to Andrea crisp.ca forward slash VIP. Now today I want to talk to you about something that has been coming up for me. And you know, every so often, I decide that I am going to go a little bit rogue on the podcast, and I'm just going to hit record. And I'm going to chat with you and I'm going to talk to you about things that have been going on in my life. And today is a no exception.

Not long ago, I started to read a new book called The Awakened millionaire. And I was introduced to Dr. Joe Vitale, now not really introduced like live in person, but introduced to him as an author and as someone who is in the empowerment space, when I listened to an audiobook called the key, and I listened to this on my trip to Toronto, probably about two three weeks ago. And oh my gosh, there were so many great takeaways I had from listening to that audiobook. So I decided to dive into a new book, The Awakened millionaire, which is another one that he wrote. And it also is blowing me away. I'm not even finished reading it yet.

But there was one particular thing that stood out to me that I really wanted to talk to you today. And maybe you've been feeling like you're really ready for transformation. You're really ready for things to shift in your life, but you feel like you are like walking on the treadmill going nowhere. Like you're doing all the things you're putting in a lot of effort, but you're really not getting the results that you desire. Well, when I was reading the book, there was a phrase that he alluded to, and the moment that I read it it was like every thing and my world stopped. I literally felt as though I was like, I looked around and I was like, Oh my gosh, this is the pattern. I have been running in my own subconscious. It was almost so subtle that I wouldn't have even noticed it.

But there have been so many times in my life, when I have accepted things as they are, and circumstances have come up, where I'm like, Oh, I don't really like this. This is not you know what I was hoping for. But well, it is what it is. And that particular phrase is something that I have heard over and over again, in my family. My dad says it, I've said it for as long as I can remember. And it's almost actually become a little bit of a joke between the two of us where we're like, well, it is what it is. But when I was reading this book, Joe Vitale actually alluded to the fact that that statement is really born out of a victim mindset. And that blew me away. And I was thinking to myself, Oh, my gosh, you're right, buying into the belief that things are what they are, that they won't change, really is basically saying that no matter what we're handed, we're going to have to live with it, and it can never change. And one of the things that he suggested was that we change that phrase from it is what it is to it is what we accept. And I thought a lot about that.

And I thought about how I have been in a place in my life over the years, when I felt like I was on that treadmill, or like I like to refer to it as basically like no man's land where nothing is happening. Even though I feel like I'm doing all of the things, I'm working all the angles, I am getting no results or close to no results. And understanding that having the mindset of it is what it is, is actually keeping me in a mentality or a mindset that I am a victim, to my circumstances, I am a victim to what is happening in my life, that I am not in control in any way and cannot shift or change things as they are. But when you move from the thought of it is what it is to it is what you accept, then your perception shifts and changes. And you're giving yourself permission to look at things from a whole new vantage point. And that to me is exactly what is going to bring transformation, not only my life, but I believe in your life as well. So thank you for that this way.

When we decide that we are not going to accept things for face value, where we might even challenge what is happening, or might say, Okay, this is not happening. To me, it is happening for me, then that is when we place ourselves in a position where we're taking radical responsibility or ownership over our lives. And that is the moment we decide that we can make a change. And that we can shift things. And we can really change the course of where we're going. And in order to do that, we have to shift our perception of what is happening. So maybe you've had something that has happened in your life, maybe even recently, where you were blindsided by something that came up in your personal life. Or maybe there were clients that didn't renew in your business.

And all of a sudden you're thinking oh my gosh, I'm not going to be able to, you know, follow my budget, or I'm going to have to look for new clients. And this is not exactly what I need. And maybe you just feel super overwhelmed with what is going on right now. If you were to adopt the philosophy, that it is what it is that almost like you'd have to resign yourself to well, this is what's happening. I guess I just better suck it up. And you know, I'd really don't have any control over it. But when you take the attitude of it is what we accept. Then you take responsibility for saying okay, I know that this situation that I'm going through right now is happening for my good. It is positioning me to make a change. It is positioning me to shift my mindset. And it is positioning me to create what I desire in my life. And that is a completely different subconscious paradigm, then believing it is what it is.

Now I'm the first one to say that any kind of change can be difficult. And, you know, when we're in a place where we're having transformation take place in our lives, it can feel super uncomfortable, because there can be a lot of resistance that comes up. But it's the moment that we're faced with that resistance opportunity to learn and to grow, and to create what it is that we desire moving forward. And oftentimes, that means we have to let go of those past beliefs, we have to let go of the doubt, the insecurity, the fear, maybe even let go of any kind of guilt, or shame that we might be carrying around. And I know often when I am going through something in my own life, especially when it's really really uncomfortable, those feelings of shame, like oh, my gosh, I can't believe that I have been here this long, have often threatened to completely dis rail me.

But what I have learned is, is that when we allow ourselves to release those emotions, release those fears, then we can take those steps forward. And that means forgiving ourselves, forgiving others, and really moving forward, despite the circumstances. Because when we have this belief that everything is working out for our good, then we're in an attitude where we can be grateful for what is happening. And we can say to ourselves, you know what, this circumstance is not what I thought was gonna happen. It's not what I expected. It's not even great. But I know it's for my good. And I trust that it is teaching me something and that I am going to learn what I need in order to make that step forward.

And even as I'm sharing this with you today, I've had an opportunity in my own life come up, where I had to make a decision whether or not I was going to allow a circumstance that came up completely unexpected, to put me back into fear, doubt, and worry. And for a moment for a split second, I thought to myself, well, I guess just is what it is. And the moment I thought that I was like no, it's not. It is what it is, it is what I accept. And I was so grateful that I've done the work to be able to recognize that when things like this come up, and I have those old thoughts creep back in, that I can shift them so quickly.

And that is the gift of really doing the inner work. It's doing the mindset work, shifting the subconscious programming, it is doing somatic work, which is really working through nervous system regulation. It is about really visualizing exactly what it is that I desire for my life, and staying focused on what it is that I desire, and not focusing on what it is that I don't want. And so I wanted to share that with you today. Because sometimes it's just the little, little shifts that make the biggest difference in our lives.

And maybe there's a phrase or a thought or a belief, or a value that you have been holding on to that needs to go that you need to release and really shift that perspective in order for you to have the transformation that you desire in your life. So I would encourage you to really think about what are those subconscious programs running in the background? What are those things you find yourself saying, when you have circumstances arise in your life that feel difficult or uncomfortable? For me? It was It is what it is. And even though I didn't think that was anything bad, I realize now that it kept me from moving forward. Because it kept me in a place where I was in agreement that things were going to be at a standstill. And that is not what I want.

So I encourage you to be curious about what are those things that may be holding you back from taking a step forward in your life? Well, friend, I hope this has been helpful for you. I would love to hear from you. Why don't you go ahead and send me a message on Instagram at Andrea Crisp Coach, let me know what your big takeaway from this podcast episode is today. And until next time, remember you have everything you need to live bravely. If you liked this episode of The Courage cast, we'd love to hear from you. Leave us a rating and review and while you're there, hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. original musical production by Steven Crelly

EP 253 | Your Transformational Moment

WITH COURTNEY ELKO

“Life can be so fragile and so short. How are we living life? Now? How are we telling that story? How are we being and how are we are allowing? ”

— Andrea Crisp

Thinking about sharing your own personal story can feel very overwhelming whether it be online, at an event, on a networking call or even across the table from someone you really care about. For years I hesitated when it came to sharing my own story because I didn't feel like it was exciting enough. I would see all of these people who had come through these incredible odds and were now sharing their story with the world and I felt small and invisible. One thing I didn't know back then was that people want to hear the about the small shifts that take place in your life. It's not always about the big moments.

Today on the podcast we have a very special guest -- Courtney Elko a Business Coach who focuses on helping you share your transformational story. No matter where you find yourself in your story telling journey -- I believe this episode is going to help you share your transformational moments with your community.

Courtney was one of my first clients to go through the VIP LIMITLESS EXPERIENCE. In this episode she shares her personal takeaways and how it has shifted her into that next level in her business. Click HERE to learn more about the VIP Limitless Experience.

Courtney Elko, of Go Live Your Story, is a former journalist turned business coach. Courtney helps female entrepreneurs to get curious about their own story so they can share it in their messaging, content and marketing in order to expand their business.

Connect with Courtney: @goliveyourstory

Connect on IG: @andreacrispcoach + @the.couragecast

Join Weekly Community Call: Mindset Mentor Circle

Book a Discovery Call: www.andreacrisp.ca/schedule

Listen Here:

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Your mindset is your greatest asset! But it is also what may be holding you back from taking that next step in your life. Are you ready to reframe your mindset so that you can step more confidently into your purpose?

Are you ready to take courageous steps to create a life and business you love? Welcome to the Curagecast. I'm Andrea Crisp, and empowerment coach, author, and a multi passionate entrepreneur. For years, I was afraid to allow myself to shine. That was until I discovered that I could step into my own power, shift my mindset and take ownership of my destiny. Now I coach people across the globe, who are ready to own their life and make a massive impact with a blend of practical and spiritual advice. My desire is that courage cast empowers you to take brave steps in your own life, and business.

Thinking about sharing your own personal story can feel very overwhelming, whether it's online and event, or networking call, or even when you're across the table from somebody you really care about. In for years, I hesitated when it came to sharing my own story. Because honestly, I just felt like it wasn't interesting enough, I would hear all of these other people who would speak and share of these incredible stories where they overcame these insurmountable odds. And now they're sharing their story with the world. And I just felt small and insignificant. But one thing I didn't know back then, was that people actually want to hear about the small shifts that take place in your life. It's not always about the big moments. And friend, I am so glad that you are tuning in today to the courage cast. Because we have a very special guest, Courtney Alko, who is a business coach who focuses on helping you share your transformational story. And honestly, she has been so helpful, even helping me to share my own transformational story. So no matter where you find yourself in your storytelling journey, I believe this episode is going to help you share your transformational moments with your community, you're gonna make a bigger impact. And trust me when I say it is going to magnetize clients to you. And Courtney was also one of the very first clients to go through the VIP limitless experience. So in the episode, we're going to talk about her personal takeaways, and how it has shifted her into that next level in her business. So get ready. Make sure you have your notepad handy, because this is really going to help you take your story to the next level. Courtney, welcome to the courage cast. I am so glad that you're here today. I'm just really excited to talk with you. We always have so much fun. When we have conversations with each other. They last generally a very long time. Thank you. So I'm really excited that you're here on the show today.

Yeah, I'm excited to be here. And yeah, we and we tend to touch on all the things when we when we have conversations that I love that we really do. It's It's funny how when you meet somebody, virtually how you can feel as though you know them in real life. Yeah. And it's almost kind of like it's surprising that we don't live in the same play. Yeah, and that we're not like in real life friends. But it kind of feels that way. And we met through a mastermind that we were both in and 2022 sales and social with Gillian Murphy. And we became friends. And I got to know you. And we got to collaborate on some things together. But I always love having people introduce themselves. And tell the audience a little bit about yourself and what you're passionate about.

Yeah. So yeah, I am Courtney, Elko of Go live your story. And I'm a business coach with kind of a focus on storytelling and content creation. My, in my previous life pre pandemic, I have nearly 20 years experience as a journalist in news and travel websites. So after being laid off in the pandemic, I decided it was finally time to start my own business, which was something I've realized now that I've always wanted to do since I was a child. It took me a minute to figure out what type of business that a writer and editor could have. What kind of besides writing, what, what kind of skill can I have? I think it clicked for me that I always thought that everyone could tell a story and I think only recently did it clicked for me that not everyone is great at that or they maybe need some help with that too. Once I finally realized that my superpower was not everyone's superpower, I could help them. use storytelling to grow their business. I figured out, I figured out what my business was. And I'm a little over a year and a half into into being a business coach at this point, and I'm loving every second of it.

Now, you had some pretty fun jobs before.

Yes, you became a business coach.

Yeah.

And, you know, set you up very nicely for what you're doing now. But there's one in particular that I would love for you to share about and it's your travel job.

Yes, yes. That was an awesome job. That was a dream job. Honestly. I've had several layoffs in my career, and I was the one before that Job was a long one. It's when I got the travel job, sobbed with tears of gratitude. I was so excited that I finally got the job because it was I was transitioning from news into the travel space. And it wasn't easy to do. And it is a dream job. So to get it was great. But yeah, so I travel, I worked for a family travel website. And our parent company is a big brand travel company or website, I guess you could say. They specialize in hotels. They have they had a bunch of content websites. And mine was a family travel website. So I would maybe like once a month travel around and tour a ton of hotels, we we wrote a lot about hotels, with the perspective of a mom wanting to book that hotel. Where was the nearest bathroom from the pool, like that kind of stuff? Yeah, and then I would come back and write about it. It was very cool. We would write like, like a whole Destination Guide, because we would also go see, I've seen many a butterfly farm, many years do anything to get involved animals, that's usually where we were sent. And they were all great. And then hotels, and then we would write about the whole, like, if you were planning your trip, here's where you would stay what you would do, and like restaurants and all that kind of stuff. But then a lot of the work was also done sitting from my desk and Googling things. So why will travel was amazing. Like it wasn't all that there was there was downtime from the travel for sure.

And it was a way for you to write and to share. But what is the difference now between like what you were doing and how you're able to like, you know, share with your writing and your content and all that now? Yeah, yeah, difference.

I'm writing for myself now, which is until I my own story now, which is was a huge shift that I had to make. For sure. I had for almost 20 years been writing very well other people's stories and sharing other people's news world tragic events, business features, new opening of businesses, good, bad, ugly, and then in the news and in the news industry. But then in the travel space, I'm still telling other people's stories, I was promoting the zoo. And so when it was, it was a hard shift for me in the beginning, when I started my business that it was okay to use the word I and talk about myself, because that's like a huge nono in journalism, you don't insert yourself into the story. So that was that was a shift of that, um, I think I think I'm pretty good at it now. But it took some time for sure to just tell a story about me. And now I do it all the time. But that in business, you have to talk about you, you and your business and your offers and all the things.

Yeah, it is a different, you know, way of you know, communicating because you're you're doing it from first person, which makes a huge difference. And, and I think that the storytelling component of you know, business, I think is really important. Because in order to share who we are and share our transformation and share the things that are, you know, our own sphere, we have to be able to share those stories with people and share those opportunities to learn and opportunities for transformation. Yes, and which is why it's so important for people to understand how they can share their messaging and how does that how does that really tie in to business like what like, what does that mean when you when you say like that you help people share their story through their content as a business coach?

Yeah, yeah. Um, to me, there's a story in in everything, and I'm noticing noticing a lot now. That or maybe it's more of like a newer business owner thing. It's the they educate. It's, I can help this is how I help You do this better, here's a tip for this. And that's great the education and the tips and how to fix this or that is wonderful, but it's not telling me a story. It's telling me how to fix something, which is great. But I want to know about you more, I want to know about who you are. And I could find those same tips if I google or if I watched someone else's story. So getting to know you as a person and as a as a business owner. That gets me to know and like you, I already trust you because you're educating me, but I want to know and like you, and your story is what's going to get me to know it like you. And it shows me that you're human also, like I think it it humanizes the story, your story, it humanizes everything. And there's a story, your actual business story, how you came to be a business owner. But then there's a story and all of your offers also like you, there's a reason why you created the offer that you created. There's a story behind that. And if you can share the actual story behind it, and why you've created it. It's much more powerful than you get six calls and Voxer and all that kind of stuff.

Yeah. Because you see that a lot. Yes. And, you know, and it's funny, because, you know, you and I have had multiple conversations around this. And, you know, even still, there are times when I forget, you know, yeah, oh, yeah, I was saying, you telling a story. Or I don't find this interesting. No one else is gonna find, right. But you've always you've also told me many times that sometimes even the most supposedly uninteresting things, yeah, can be very interesting for other people. Absolutely. Why is that? Because it, I mean, we're all just plugging away, we all don't have these crazy, amazing experiences on the daily, like, they could be a little shift or a little story, I coach my clients to find their transformational moments. And a transformational moment, it sounds like it's so big. And a lot of times it can be for me, one of my big transformational moments was being laid off from my travel job. So I could then start my my business. But it could also be just reading a book, or you took a walk and had like an epiphany on this walk. A transformational moment can be small. And those small things are the stats, the story that people want. And if you want to share, oh, I was on this walk and a deer ran across the thing. And it made me think about this instead of Valley. That is a story right there. And it was a deer walking across a path. Like it wasn't a big that happens all the time or depending on where you live. But yeah, it can be something small that you absolutely can share. It's something I even I mean, your daily routine is nice to share. But sometimes something different out of your daily routine is a nice, just fun story to share. I went to the grocery store, and this happened. Like it's just something different to share. And it rounds you out as a person like, Oh, she goes to the grocery store, too.

Yeah, you know, and I think we forget that right? Like I think as Ben as business owners, we get lost in some of the other details and forget that to share the humaneness of us Yeah, of our lives of our story of our journey. And I was just recording another podcast with my friend Kristen, who you've met virtually. And she we were talking about storytelling in the context of you know, sharing it through music. So it's really interesting today that I'm like talking to different types of storytellers. Yes. And, and how our journey or like our life journey is such is a story. Yeah, is the transformation. And there's like, points along the way where we have learned something or we've had that transformational moment, and then sometimes we're going to be talking about those big markers. And then sometimes we're going to be talking about the deer in the road. Yeah. You know, for me, it's a bear. Oh, yes. You do have I found those very interesting stories when you were sharing them cuz I don't have bears in my daily life. So you're telling me what is cool for me.

I remember. I remember when I was walking was like 730 in the morning, I was talking to my friend Katie on the phone. I this is pre the dog, you know, so yeah, it wasn't here. And I'm walking and I'm coming back. There's a trail that leads down the road and then you have to come back the same way you came. Okay. So there's only one entrance in and out. Yeah. And so anyways, I'm walking back and I have to go through that, that place to go back out onto the road. And that's where I see the bearer across the swamp. Oh, geez now is far enough away that I was like it was probably not gonna get to me. But in my mind, I was like, yeah, it could get to me. And I remember I'm on the phone with her. And like, there's a bear. There's a bear. There's a bear. And she's like, what, what? And I was like, There's a bear. And I'm like, I stopped, like, actually having a conversation. Yeah, she's like, Well, what do you want me to hang up? I'm like, No, right? Yeah. She's probably thinking she gets attacked by a bear. I'm definitely hanging out.

I don't want to share the attack. Meanwhile, I said, just stay on the phone. And I just started running. Yeah, I just started running. Anyways. Needless to say, I didn't have there was no, you weren't attacked by a bear. Big incident yet the bear. But that summer, I think I saw a bear three times three or four times. And I finally did get the puppy that that year. And there was one time that we were in the car. And just the same, same trap. And so hold up. Yeah, I just pull up in the car. And as we were pulling up, the bear was going headed into the woods. And we did a U turn around. Yeah. And of course, coffee was so small. She was like she actually looked like a small bear.

Oh, yeah. Use the actual bears. Well, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And that's a that's a fun story to share and something different. And for people who don't have bears in their daily life, like that's, I remember what you shared something similar on Instagram stories, and I was enthralled like it, you gotta make it out. I hope she hope she gets to happen. Because bears are terrifying to me. They're one of the animals that have like that. But yeah, and that's different. A different thing. That was a small different thing. I'm sure in your in your daily life a small thing that was interesting and fun to share. And just it grounded you out? Oh, Andrea lives in a place where there are there's like it just it tells me more about you without just giving me a list of things about you.

Yeah, it's it's, it's really interesting to actually think about the things that you can share and the stories that you can tell. And I don't know, I probably need to do a better job at it. Which is why we have people like you to continually remind us of those things. Yeah. Now, we had an opportunity to work together not not long ago. And you did one of the VIP experiences. Yes, I was just really launching them. And really, like, we talked a lot about transformational moments. Yes, yes. During even the time that we were working together, and I would love for you to share like, what, what was that like for you when it comes to your own transformational moments?

What What was the experience? Like? Yeah, yeah. Um, I Well, I feel like I'm still transforming. There's that, but I can definitely I definitely feel a shift. I mean, just today getting ready for this podcast, like, I got ready for the day. Like, I was like, Oh, let me take a shower. And like actually put on a sweater and take off the sweatshirt that I've been wearing all weekend. So I think just like it worth, it's little shifts that I know are going to add up to bigger shifts eventually. And it's it's those little transformational moments, there was no like, I mean, the actual experience was amazing. And that was a big a big thing. But like afterwards, it's just these little things that I'm building on top of each other. Like, I'll just keep pushing the next one. Okay, there's one little thing notice I have another one. And I know all of that is going to be huge. Like I can definitely feel like, way more confident. And I thought I was pretty confident before the experience. So the level of confidence that I have now and like, oh, okay, like this, I this could be better. Like that's awesome. Now can can we talk a little bit about the mindset shift that you had? Yeah, around change?

Yes. Yeah.

Tell me a little bit about how you felt prior to doing the VA VIP experience when it came to change, and how you feel now? Well, see I didn't even realize I had an issue. I mean, I knew I had an issue with change, but I didn't realize like it was an issue until the rehab until you pointed it out. And I knew I was always like my thing like I just don't like change. But I thought that's just like who I was. So I going into our VIP experience, I No way thought that that's where we were going to be heading. So then when that was revealed, I was like, wow, and then seeing how not liking change affects all the other things was very eye opening to me and working through that.

Yeah.

Can you give me an example of like, what are one of those things that, you know, it was impacting?

I think, maybe just being open, just being open to it, like I'm set in my ways. And while I think with with loving travel, travel is a huge part of who I am. And I love to explore, and I'm curious and want to see new places. And but it didn't really occur to me that that equals change, like those. I was not letting that happen more for me, because I wasn't being open to possibilities and opportunities. Like, I think it was changing the word changing the word change, to possibilities and opportunities over change. I think that that was a shift for sure. Just the language being used was Yeah, yeah.

And now, you know, like, when you think about being a business owner, and somebody who is, you know, like, online all the time, and, you know, really walking other people through and experience themselves. Why is it important that you can embrace change or possibility?

Yeah. Because business changes, you need to have flexibility. And in business, that's for sure. That's definitely something I've learned. And I do think I was, I've been always able to do that, when it comes to content, and creating content that I can pivot with, with a posting of something because coming from a news background breaking news would happen, and you'd have to change shift, we were going to write this today. But now this happened to we have to change. So was good about having a plan with my content and being flexible, if it had to change. But with all the other things, I don't think I was as as flexible. And I'm still definitely learning to be more flexible. But things always come up. And pivots are always needed in business and being able to be okay with that and let it go and realize that it's for the greater good. This this change in a bet about something better is happening?

Because you were open to it. Yeah, I think people it's funny when they think about change to think that like, major life move. Yeah, like I'm changing one city to another, that's change, or I was in a relationship, and now I'm no longer in one, or vice versa, you know, not being in one. And then in one that's change, but often, like we forget about the little things that are even the way we do life. Yeah. Like there's, there's certain ways that we perceive life or perceive how we are living. And we get attached to that being the way it's done. That being the way it is that being the way my life is or who I am attaching to an identity attaching to this being me. And one of the things that, you know, we talked about was, you know, attaching to the identity of while I'm just, that's me, I don't like change. And it's like, okay, if you're going to step into that next level version of yourself, you know, when it comes to business, is that identity serving you, right, in the future, right? Can you have the level of success? And can you have a level of impact that you want to have, if you're attached to the identity that I don't like change? Or I'm, this is me, right? I just don't change. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

And so you can't grow? There's no growth with that. Yes, grow for sure.

Right. And so it's, it's, you know, we think of it in the terms of like, okay, I'm just going to make a different decision and do something new. That's change. But it's not really just always that it's, it's oftentimes it's the way we view ourselves and if we, we have an attachment to something and I don't want to change it. I have no desire to be different. Yeah, because I am attached to the way I am I am attached to the person I've been Come, then, in order to, like, have the success that we want, it's really, really hard to get there because we're carrying around that old stuff. Yeah, those old stories, those old mindsets. How has shifting this helped you? How is it like giving you transformational moments? Now stepping into a new identity where you are embracing possibility? Yeah, um, I think so. My whole blog, part of the whole change thing was that I wanted to get to the destination faster. Yeah, it was all about the destination. Yeah. Right. And I think learning changing that thought and like, I literally have the T shirts and says, like, it's about the journey, not the destination, but like, I can't, it was, it was very hard to like, live that. So I think changing, that was a shift for me changing that. The journey is just as fun and just as cool. And that's what brings the opportunities and the change is the journey. The destination is like the end result is the goal or whatever. So I think learning that shift, having that shift, and I'm still working on that, but but I did actually recently had a bit of an aha moment of the whole embracing the journey thing. So I saw a friend over the weekend, and she's like, also, kinda sorta in business. And I knew she was going to ask me like, Hey, how's your business going? And I love talking about business with her like, it's safe place. I knew. Yeah, it was a good question that she would be asking. Excuse me, and, um, but I found myself like preparing my answer to her because I'm like, Ooh, what am I gonna say when she answers that? Because I am probably the most confident I've ever been in my business now. But my bank account is not overflowing with money. It's not reflecting that success that I feel I have, the two things are not connecting. And that is so weird to me. Like, I'm like, How can I be this confident and secure in my business, but also not have the dollar amounts in the bank accounts? Like it doesn't make sense to me. So I was trying to wrap my mind around that to be able to answer the question for her. And then it clicked. I'm like, This is what embracing the journey is about. Like, I'm like, Oh, my God, like this thing. That I'm doing it. But I'm, it just occurred to me that I'm like, I'm having fun and having confidence in the journey. And the bank account is the destination. And I haven't gotten there yet. But I'm cool with it. Like, that is a huge shift for me to be able to see to realize that like, I think because it was weird. Like it made me curious. I want to like think about that more, and then it clicked, then I'm like, Oh, this is the journey. Oh, yeah. I think that that right, there was was a shift. That was nice. Yes. That's amazing. You I was talking with Kristin today about surrender. And it reminds me a little bit of that, you know, that there is this, we have this point where we have almost surrender the outcome. And we have to just go okay, like, what we want in the in reality, like in the our bank account, like to see it has to first we have to believe it first, right? Before we can see it manifest. And I think so often we are we are looking to the lack of it, and envisioning the lack of the bank account or thinking it's in the lack. Yeah, versus being in the opposite, which is the belief. Yeah. And I liken it to like, even what you're talking about with the transformational moments, right. Like, there's always like the before and the after. Yep. So they're, you know, in order to have a transformational moment and to tell and to be a storyteller and to tell those moments. There was before it happened. And after it happened. Yeah. And when it comes to abundance, it's always about the belief in the after.

Yeah. Yeah.

And, you know, believe that there is going to be the transformational moment that the money is there, right or that, you know, the opportunity presents itself or that the clients come in, or, and part of the the journey is the lessons and the transformational moments that we had, that we shifted as people All Yeah. To almost move more into belief more into surrender more into all of those things that are going to make us who we are, yeah, that are going to have impact on other people. Yeah. To tell a story.

Right. Right. Yeah. Because I think that for, for me, that transformational moment is the is the teeny part of the story. It's the event that happened. It's the before and the after. That is the actual story that you're sharing. Yeah, like the pivot. The moment is the event and pivot. But the story is what happened before and what happened after. And I'm actually like, I feel like I'm already writing this, like, amazing story. But it's in I'm only at the before. So I'm like, okay, so I have all of these things that I'm ready, at some point will share and then just need that pivot arc to happen. And then so and then no, like, reality of what the actor is like, I'm envisioning the actor. But I need the reality of the actor. But yeah, it's going to be an awesome story, that's for sure.

Yeah, and I love I love hearing about things like what people are experiencing stuff like that. And it's like, you know, staying in that moment, and staying in the belief of it. Yeah. That the transformation is occurring. Yeah, you know, and, and sometimes we don't see it right away. And those things often look are almost like invisible things. Yeah. They're, they're known only to us. And then eventually, we do get to share them, which I think is really important. Like, it's funny how, like, in what I do, it's like, really working through those moments and like, actually talking about how do you have those shifts? And how do you? Like, what does that look like to shift your mindset? What does it look like to step more into confidence? And then your what you do is actually helping people tell that story? Yes. Yes. You know, when they had that moment, yeah.

The before and after? Yep. You get them to that. And then I'm like, Okay, now look back and see how that happened. Let's talk about that. Yeah, yes. Tell that story. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because you're right. It's not just, you know, I mean, we like to say it's like the bear in the woods, right? Like, oh, my gosh, it's the bear in the woods. But I think it's it's not always just the bear in the woods story that you know, it you know, it's so funny. Like, I've had so many interesting moments in the woods. Beyond that there are moments when I'll be walking, and it's just really quiet, or I'm not listening to something. I'm not listening to music or podcast, and I'm just by myself, and I hear the birds or I hear something and it's just quiet, and it's silent. And there'll be a moment where I'll have just a thought. Yep. And it's just this like, knowing or this sense. And it's not a bear in the woods moment. But it is just as important. Yeah, as the bear in the woods, you know, like, I don't know, I mean, I don't really wanna know, I'm gonna say this, but I just today I was looking at Facebook. And I came across this girl's birthday. And I was like, I think she died. Oh, geez. And she did Oh, wow. years ago. Yeah. But her birthday came up on Facebook. And I forgot about it. And I was like, and she's young. Like, she's much younger than, than I am. And she passed away, probably, I don't know, maybe three years ago or something like that. Yeah. And Courtney, I was like, I was struck by it because I thought about that. And I was like, her. Her life is like, on the earth is over. Yeah. You know, Her story's not probably finished being told, you know, through her children, and through through different things, but it was interesting to me how it impacted. Even to me today.

Yeah. Yeah.

Because I was like, oh, yeah, like she was so young. Right. And I'm like, I have so much more of my life to live. How am I living it? Yeah. Yeah. How many more stories will I tell? Am I telling those stories? Am I having those moments? am I allowing myself to be in my own story? Yeah, like just like things like that, like I was. I was really struck by that and I and then it reminded me of another Yeah. A girl that I knew both of them from the same city even. And she also passed away a couple years ago. And both of them left behind a husband and three kids. And again, I was struck again, like, you know, wow, Life can be so fragile and so short. How are we living life? Now? How are we telling that story? How are we being and how are we are allowing? I didn't know we were gonna go this way. Oh, yeah. You don't I'm saying yes. And but and that was a simple thing on Facebook that popped up that gave you that that thought act? Yes. It was a it was a little thing that made you really think and share about it now. Absolutely.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And I think those moments are very pivotal for for our ourselves. We're not only for having a shift in our mindset, but also being able to share that with our audience, share that with our clients share that with people who are, you know, going to have a transformation because of our story and sharing. Yeah, you know, those moments with them, I think are very important and, and things that we forgot it's in the it's in the little details as much as it is in the big detail.

Exactly. Those little Yeah, those little shares are so much more important to share. Because everyone thinks their life is boring, or mundane or average or it's routine. You were scrolling Facebook, and had a bit of a lightbulb moment. And yeah, scroll Facebook every day. So but it was a something different. You saw something different today and to be able to share about that thought is is that's the story to share today that that's your story today. Yeah, yeah. And that life is it is fragile, and there are you know, we're not guaranteed, right, we're not guaranteed things and getting stuck on some of the small things. Some of the small like, and I think that's it was interesting, because then I went for my walk today before I was recording some podcasts this morning. And on my walk, I just thought, you know, I really am so grateful for my life, you know, and just being able to have you know, these opportunities to share life right now. Yeah, so reminder that Facebook post was your reminder for that today? Yeah, sure. Yeah.

On that same trail I might have you then saw a bear in the middle of winter and that was a whole nother level. Trust me I'm like oh my god they were polar bears here. Oh, man dog out there on your you're up there. Man. I'm not that far up here. But yeah. I was I'd be like, I need to get out of here No, no, no. So tell me now like now that you have had some of these transformational moments in your own life and you've had made some shifts what's what's next for you? What what is next for you in your business? And how are you You know showing up in your in your life in business in 2023? Yeah, good question. I think it's important well yeah, it's probably going deeper for me in my in my stories, I know how to share the surface level stories the I saw random Facebook posts or saw bear type of stories, but I need to go to the next level like deeper in my stories and bigger I think insurance knows I've mastered Instagram. I mean, not one it's always changing but I know what I'm doing there. But I think taking it to the next level with podcasting and and speaking engagements. And yeah, just sharing bigger sharing bigger I think is more and helping my clients to share share bigger as well.

Yeah. Oh, that's exciting. Yeah. So there's a podcast in your future there is yes, I bought a mic but that's about as far as I've gotten. And I have a tentative launch date but I've literally done nothing yet. But yes there is I've been told for years that I not years, but a while now that I should have a podcast. And I know that like I I know I want to have a podcast but I was in it was like another thing for me. And I share that I express myself best through the written word. So being able to like speak a story is next level For me, so, but I, but I also know, people will listen to a podcast more than they will read a blog post. So, yeah, it's and I can give more of a tone. And in a podcast writing like funny isn't easy. So it's easier to use it in the inflection of my voice. So it should be good. And it will be some thing around storytelling, business related, but also just fun stories to share of myself and guests.

So it'll it'll be well, I won't be but we will be looking out for it. Yes, for sure. For sure that I actually before I started the courage cast, I was writing blogs. Yeah. And this is years ago now. But I remember thinking to myself, Oh, you know what? It must be it would be so much easier just to like have a podcast. Whoever gave me that idea. Easier. I'm not too sure about because really, at the beginning, I wrote out everything anyways. And so I was just writing everything. And then almost like script, yeah. And then sharing it other than when I had guests on, but it took me forever, because I had to like, basically write it. Yeah. Then I had to record it, then edit it, then do all the things and I was like, Oh, my gosh, this is a lot of work. It was definitely easier to write a blog.

Okay. Good to know. Yeah, I can see myself doing that exam, that exact same process, and I don't want to lose, it'll be easier. I'll just like, you know, press record. I even joke sometimes now and I, cuz I do occasionally press record on on the mic and just like, Okay, I'm gonna talk. Yeah, but it's rare that I will do it like that. And I won't have notes. It's more rare. Like one in? Like, 50. Yeah. Put it that way. Yeah. Yeah. Because you really do have to have your thoughts together of what you're going to talk about and know exactly what you're going to say. Yeah. Because you know, he's gonna keep talking. Right. So it's easier to have notes. Yes. Just saying. Just tell, you know, for anybody who's out there wanting to share their story. Yes. Thank you for the tips. Yeah. I'm so glad that we got to share your story here on the on the courage guest today. Where can people find you and connect with you?

Yeah, I'm on Instagram. I am. Go live your story. And I'm love having conversations in the DMS. I have genuine conversations in the DMS. I want to get to know you and your story on a more personal level. So I respond to your stories. And yes, I love chatting with DMS.

Awesome. Well, go connect with Courtney. And I will put all of her links in the show notes so that you can find her in case you're, I don't know in the car listening to this right now. And you can't remember, you can check the show notes afterwards and make sure that you connect with her. And thank you so much, Ben for being a guest today on the show. Appreciate it. Thank you for having me. This is awesome. I want to thank Courtney for being on the courage cast today for sharing her own personal transformation moments. If you want to learn how you can tell your story in a way that feels really authentic and aligned to your vision and your mission. Reach out to Courtney and friend.

Thank you for being here today. Until next time, remember, you have everything you need to live bravely. If you like this episode of The Courage cast, we'd love to hear from you. Leave us a rating and review and while you're there, hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. Original music production by Stephen Crelly.

EP 252 | Choosing To Begin Again | Kristen Budde

WITH KRISTEN BUDDE

“From an outside perspective, I think we can see people and we can go,” Oh, yeah, I totally see them as a singer, songwriter, speaker.” but when it’s us, it’s harder to because we have all of these old stories and narratives playing out in the in the background, which is what has kept us from doing it in the first place.”

— Andrea Crisp

Have you ever sat on a dream for so long that you thought it would never happen? My guest today on the show has been a long time friend of mine and someone who is one of the most talented humans I know. For years, Kristen Budde had a desire to share her music with the world but fear of the unknown held her back from putting her music into the world. But in 2020 all of that changed when Kristen decided to make one of the biggest moves of her life. Today on the podcast we talk about how how she moved through her fear and is now sharing her both story and her original music.

Kristen was one of my first clients to go through the VIP LIMITLESS EXPERIENCE. In this episode she shares with me her personal takeaways and how it has helped her to show up more confidently as a performer and speaker. Click HERE to learn more about the VIP Limitless Experience.

Connect on IG: @andreacrispcoach + @the.couragecast

Join Weekly Community Call: Mindset Mentor Circle

Book a DISCOVERY CALL: www.andreacrisp.ca/schedule

Connect with Kristen: @kristenbuddemusic and kristenbuddemusic.com

Listen Here:

Apple + Google + Spotify

Your mindset is your greatest asset! But it is also what may be holding you back from taking that next step in your life. Are you ready to reframe your mindset so that you can step more confidently into your purpose?

Are you ready to take courageous steps to create a life and business you love? Welcome to the Couragecast. I'm Andrea crisp, an empowerment coach, author, and a multi passionate entrepreneur. For years, I was afraid to allow myself to shine. That was until I discovered that I could step into my own power, shift my mindset and take ownership of my destiny. Now I coach people across the globe, who are ready to own their life and make a massive impact with a blend of practical and spiritual advice. My desire is that courage cast empowers you to take brave steps in your own life and business.

Have you ever sat on a dream for so long that you thought it would never happen? My guest today on the show has been a longtime friend of mine, and someone who is one of the most talented humans I know. For years, Kristin buddy had a desire to share her music with the world. But fear of the unknown held her back from putting her music into the world. In 2020, all that changed when Kristin decided to make one of the biggest moves of her life. Today on the podcast, we talk about how she moved through her fear, and is now sharing both her story and her original music. Kristin was also one of my very first clients to go through the VIP limitless experience. And in this episode, she shares with me her personal takeaways of how it has helped her to show up more confidently as a performer and a speaker. Kristen Floyd buddy, you know, I know your name is Christian buddy. But I have to call you Chris and Floyd. I'm not gonna lie. Welcome to the Couragecast.

Thank you. I'm so happy to be here.

You know, it's so fun to have on somebody who you've known for a really long time. Because it's one of those things where it's like, you can't be like that professional version of yourself because the person knows you. All too. Yeah, so we've known each other a really, really long time since Evangel. College, also known as Evangel University. And so I'm just really, I'm really grateful to have you on the show.

Yeah, and we won't say how many years ago that was. That's a long time. I still remember your green corduroy pants and tie dye shirt getting ready to, you know, jump on the stage and wow, the world with your spectacular vocals.

That's hilarious.

Do you have those green pants? Still?

You know what I think I probably do somewhere in a box in the attic.

Is it funny? Like I look back at some of those times from Evangel. And think to myself like, that feels like a lifetime ago feels like a whole literally a whole lifetime ago. I was a whole other person. 100% It was forever ago.

Yeah. So for those of you who are maybe new to Kristin, Buddy, she is actually a singer, songwriter, and speaker, and she's going to share a little bit about herself. But from my perspective, knowing Kristin for many, many years, Kristin and I went to college together. Then we lived together for numerous years as what we termed a back then before it was like actually coined the term life partners. We were roommates. We call each other life partners. And we lived together for a really long time. And I got to bear witness to Kristen's life and just, I don't know her joy and the way she lives her life. And so, but Kristin, tell us a little bit about you.

Sure. So like you said, I'm a singer, songwriter, and speaker. And man, I mean, music has just been like my thing from the beginning of time. We were both music majors in college, which is how we met Yes. But also just love connecting with people, which led me to pursue a Master's in Counseling. So I taught music coming out of college and then became a school counselor. And I did that for 25 years, all by doing music and songwriting on the side, and sometimes not at all. It was one of those kind of passions that was kept on the backburner. But I'm so happy to say I'm now pursuing that full time and have added speaking to what I'm doing and so it's a really exciting time in life and yeah, it's a it's a beautiful been a beautiful season here this last, I don't know, couple of years.

You know, it's it's so interesting to have watched your journey along the way like having seen you sit in our living room in our duplex with your guitar or you know, the many hours you sat playing and writing songs and and covering songs and doing different things and how much I knew you loved what you were doing, and you wish you were pursuing it, I would watch you get up to go to work in the morning. Like, just, I don't know, like, I think the phrase is like, kill me now Crispy.

It was a struggle from like the get go, but I kept at it for a long 25 years.

Yeah, so let me ask you, what? How did you do that? Like, if you wanted to pursue music, like what was the reasoning behind staying 25 years?

Yeah,um, I think it's a few things. First of all, my understanding, and knowledge of what was possible in pursuing music as a career was a very narrow, like, we've talked about this before, like, I basically thought I could be a rockstar, or I could teach, like, those were the only options that I really was aware of. And really, not until the last, maybe two or three years, when I got connected with some new creative community and some mentors, I kind of had my eyes open to some new possibilities, which is really exciting and really neat. But, um, so that was one I just didn't know, what was possible, didn't know how I didn't know, just didn't know how could happen. And then the second was, I think a big one was security in that paycheck, and a very, had a very stable job. And, you know, my growing up, like my family really valued education valued stability, you know, and I, I still valued that really, you know, I want to know, I can pay my bills. So So I think that and then the probably the biggest one was fear. Fear has been a huge obstacle in my life, even since I was a kid. And really, as I started kind of on a journey, I don't know, maybe in 2017, with you started with that purpose, the purpose group that we did, I just really started to realize how much that has kept me stuck and kept me from doing things that I needed to do that I wanted to do. So yeah, I'd say those are the three big things.

And, you know, you said you did it for 25 years before you took the leap. And you were living in Cincinnati, before you moved to the Nashville area. And I'd love to talk about that time in life. Because I think that really was a turning point for you. So let's go to when you're in Cincinnati, you're, you're commuting to Kentucky, as a school counselor. You know, and you're, you're just tell me about what life was like?

Sure. And I have to say, like all that to say there were good parts about teaching, too, that I think kept me there too, you know, so it's just said that, but um, anyhow, so Cincinnati, so I lived in Springfield, Missouri, after college for I think, 12 years teaching. And then the last two years was a counselor. And then my husband and I met through a mutual friend and I ended up when we got married, moving to Cincinnati. And it was really, really a difficult transition for me, I had a really tight knit community in Springfield, some wonderful friends. I had been single for what felt like forever, but now looking back, you know, it wasn't but and so when I moved, it was really, I really struggled. I really miss my friends. I kind of really had an identity crisis like and then I felt like I didn't know how to be married. And you know, Larry knew everybody I didn't know anybody. I'm my first job there was in credibly challenging. So like, within a span of one month, I got married, moved to a new city and started a new job. And I didn't realize the stress of that and really kind of the trauma of that, how much it affected me until years later. And then that first year of being in Cincinnati, I ended up getting fired from my job with I was totally blindsided because they didn't really have grounds it was basically to give someone else an opportunity that was already in the school. And it was devastating. But again, I didn't realize I don't think the effects the of what that did to me and my confidence. I didn't realize that until years later. And then just the challenge of being married and we had dated long distance. And so, you know, I've gotten here I'm married, and finally living in the same city as my husband. And that presented a whole slew of challenges to Yeah, so I mean, it was it was tough. So I think my start in Cincinnati got off to on a very rough foot. Yeah. And then, you know, looking as I've looked back on, on all those years there, I just, I really think I got stuck. Like, all the things that happened that first year, and it was so difficult, I was depressed. I was dealing with extreme anxiety in my job, and well, it just in life, and all those disappointments failures kept me I mean, caused me to get stuck.

And then on top of that, you had sickness.

Yeah. So let's see, probably about seven, six years after we got married. I went camping, and I got bit by a tick, and ended up contracting Lyme disease. I was lucky in that I knew that I got it and was treated fairly quickly. However. I dealt with just weird health ailments for about three years. And I looked fine on the outlet. One of the hardest things about that, and and I don't think people always realize with Lyme disease is You look fine on the outside. But I was I was terrible. I was, at that point, having probably, I would say, almost debilitating anxiety. Some of which was over the health things I was experiencing. And I just, I was just miserable. Honestly, it was probably at an all time low. I would say, it was rough. It kind of felt like like, oh my gosh, this just nothing is working out for me here in this city. Like, what is the deal?

Yeah. And probably looking back, like, you know, if you would have had rewound the tape all the way back to college, would you have imagined that that's where you would have been?

Oh, no. I don't think so. Um, yeah, I mean, so that was I don't know how old I was, I was probably like, my late 30s. When, when they saw or maybe I think it would happen, they are I turned 40. Actually. Yeah, if you would have a few I said, Hey, Kristen, when you're 40 you're gonna live in in Cincinnati, you're gonna be sick, and you're gonna feel like crap, you're gonna be struggling with your direction in life. And yeah, yay. So much to look forward to. You know, I have to say, it's, it's one of those things that, you know, since doing this work myself, and, you know, really telling people's stories, and, you know, working with people myself, I think, I also struggled with my own things, and not feeling like, you know, my life turned out the way I wanted it to. And it was one of those things where people weren't really telling you the full story. So you, you'd have conversations with people, and they'd kind of gloss over, you know, what was really going on in their life to make it seem good. Because there's, there can be a lot of shame, you know, when you've thought your life was going to turn out a certain way. It really hasn't. And then you're like, you know, I had everything going for me. Absolutely everything in my favor. And this is where I'm, where I'm at. And we reconnected. I mean, we'd always kind of kept in touch. But we reconnected around that time. And, you know, you know, which I'm so grateful for me personally, you know, just in general, for me, personally, it was amazing. But I was starting this thing called the purpose groups and was based off of a book that I've written designed with purpose. And you were one of the first cohorts to go through virtually through the group and, you know, met some women. Then you participated in a mastermind that I ran, and you met, you know, again, some incredible women you came up to Canada's like multiple times, you know, really got involved virtually within a community. How did that shift you and almost like, create an atmosphere for you to consider changing things.

Yeah. I mean, that really, to me, that purpose group was the big Getting of transformation, I guess for me. So you are a huge part of my story. And so I think the purpose group is trying to think through this timeline in my head, I think it was in around 2017. So I was still dealing with Lyme disease really struggling. And I remember, I don't know, if you had advertised it on social media or how I found out about it. But I remember thinking, wow, I really want to do this, because I really felt like I was still struggling kind of with identity crisis, you know, like, I really want to do with more with music. But, you know, I have worked so hard on this master's degree, I don't really want to leave this job, like I said, was kind of just stuck since that first year. And I was like, isolated, really, I had wonderful people in my life, but was just struggling, I think, for me to be myself. So when I heard about this group, I was like, oh, purpose, you know, like, I was always so intrigued by that. And I felt like probably struggled to some degree with, you know, what am I what am I supposed to be doing here. And I was, I remember being wanting to do it, but I was nervous that I wouldn't have like the energy, you know, with dealing with illness. And also, it was so small, I think financial investment. And, you know, even that was really the first time I had invested in myself, you know, outside of school, really. So, but I decided, I was like, Okay, if I don't do this, like, nothing's gonna change, I gotta do something, something, something gotta change. And so I did it. And then it was so good. I don't even remember, everyone was in the group. But it was it was a fairly small group. And just remember, like, as we started getting into it, first of all, how it was just really cool to connect with people. And I guess I didn't expect that from something online. But to get at connect with people on a deep level, and it was kind of like, I started finding myself again, like, I always get emotional about this. But I'm like, it was like that little girl who loved to sing. And that little girl who loved music and had that passion. I was like, Oh, my gosh, she's still there. Yeah, you know, she got lost. Yeah, it was really, it was a really cool time. And I got to see something happen in you. And I got to watch you transform your life.

Yeah, and it took me a long time. Like, I think there are times I was like, you know, I want this to happen faster. But I guess I want you know, in a lot of ways, I wasn't ready. It just took a lot of work and a lot of time and you know, looking back now over the last, I don't know, six, seven years. You know, I'm more accepting of like, okay, like, this is happening in the right time. And that it's supposed to, but yeah, that was the beginning.

You know, you people often, you know, think, oh, it has to happen quickly, you know, why isn't it happened, you know, I really want to pursue this dream that I have for my life. And then, you know, years goes by five years. And sometimes it does take time, because there's all the emotional component that's going on, you know, in the back end of everything, you know, trying to process who am I? What do I really want? How do I make these changes, and then all of a sudden, the realization that oh, I've kept myself stuck. Like life didn't just, you know, like, I'm not here because, you know, it's just coincidence. It's like, I made these choices. This was something and here I am now. And then you were in a place in your life. I don't know if it was right before COVID Or right during COVID pandemic beginning of it. You made a decision and you had been talking with Larry about this for some time, but you made a decision to move to the Nashville area.

Yeah. Yeah. Tell me about that. Yeah. So so we did purpose group and I started you know, in that next mastermind after that started taking the small steps towards music, you know, performing more, starting to write more getting connected with some songwriter groups and and loved it like it was just life and so my dad had lived in Nashville for gosh, almost since after right after college and I had almost moved here. maybe like, around 2005. But ultimately it didn't pan out, didn't work out. And so I was always drawn to Nashville, of course, because of the music scene songwriters. As I remember the first event I went to it was with the Nashville Songwriters Association. And I was just like, oh my gosh, I found my people. And so as always, it was always kind of in the back of my mind. And actually, I had applied for jobs a couple of times while we were in Cincinnati. And just nothing. I mean, nothing crickets, like out of pi, nothing. And so in 2020 Yeah, it was right when COVID started. Larry had lost his job. And we were kind of just like, okay, like, what next? And, you know, I was still really wanting to do more music, I was wanting to potentially go part time and had an opportunity that I thought was a sure deal. And then it didn't pan out. And so when I remember one of my friends saying, Well, why don't you just see if what's, you know, what's happening in Nashville, apply for some jobs, see what happens. So I did and pretty quickly got several interviews, which was crazy. So ended up getting hired as a school counselor down here. And we were, we were like, Okay, let's do it. So that was in June, and school started here. And like beginning of August, so it was like, whew, it was a quick thing. And like we weren't because we weren't really planning on it. So I ended up living down here with my parents for a couple months. While Larry got everything ready to go, and Cincinnati, but yeah, here we here we are in the middle of pandemic moving to a new state.

Yeah. And you know, you had been thinking about it for some time, and it feels like forever, like that. You're thinking about it. And then all of a sudden, one day it happens and everything's like, quickly moving. Yeah. It's happening. It's like, oh, okay, here we are. And so you got down there. And then you had some really incredible opportunities open up for you. While you were there, and you're establishing yourself, why don't you tell us a little bit about the group that you got associated with and how you started down the road to becoming a speaker? Because you had always been doing singing? And all of a sudden, you got connected in which I was so thrilled that you found your people? Yeah, like, that's something we had been talking about for a really long time. And there you were, and so yeah, tell us about that.

Yeah. So it's funny you say that, because I remember being at one of your retreats in Canada. And, like, I just was really wanting to connect with creative community, like I had a friend that I performed with who I love, still love. We still do things musically together, but really was just longing for some creative community and a friend of mine. I think it was actually right before I move mentioned this group called artist stand. And so I ended up doing a virtual retreat in August, the year I moved down here, because you know, that was in the thick of COVID. So nothing was in person. And they did another one with them. A few months later, and they ended up doing a mastermind that year of songwriters. And so decided to go for it. And we're still working full time at this point, but was just like I just kept had like I just knew I had to do more music. I remember saying to my to Larry, like I am going to die if I don't do something like and you know, at the same time this clock is ticking. I'm like, okay, like, I'm not getting any younger. There may be a little like midlife crisis in there. But here. Yeah, yeah. So I got connected with them to this mastermind. And it really changed my life like so it was led by two professional songwriters here in Nashville who both have successful careers who are generous and wonderful people. And just having that accountability and like minded people was was amazing. And then that ended at the end of 2021. And I'm still very much connected with people in that community. And with my mentors there. And then, last April, I got connected with another mentor. I attended, like another online thing. And he talked about keynote concerts. And I was like, Oh, actually, I had heard the concept the year before and had bought a course I hadn't done anything with it by the same guy. And attending this. He was just talking about it. And I had thought about it over the last year and that could be really cool. Which is so funny. Like, if you would have said to me in college like Kristen, you're gonna push to a speaking certification someday I would have been like, whatever, Andrea. You're on crack. You mostly thought all my ideas were that were crazy anyway. So you might have a good voice of reason in my life. But I remember in college you I say one day at a time, Floyd one day at a time, because I get so stressed out about everything. Anyway, I still remember that. But back to the speaking. So I attended this thing. And he was doing a mastermind. And so it was just crazy. Like several things happened all within a short amount of time that I was like, Yeah, I think I'm supposed to do this. And I'm, I want to do this. And yeah, it was just really neat how it all came about. So I did that. And so I believe it was in in May, maybe that started of last year. And I'm still that's still going. So I've started speaking, and I've spoken at a few events. And so a keynote concert basically, is like giving a keynote, keynote speech. Like for a conference or seminar, whatever. And you weave in a few of your original songs, and even how that has come together, like sharing my story and the lessons I've learned and how that went along with songs that I was writing. But like how it came together, it was just feels very I don't know what the right word is, like serendipitous? Yeah, like,yeah, like the the timing is just so cool. How I feel like how God has brought it all together.

You know, it's, you know, when you were in, I guess, in Springfield, like, there were opportunities that you had to go and sing places. And I remember you doing like coffeehouse type events, and you always would share something before, like, you'd always have a little introduction to the song or, you know, some sort of a story that went along with it, and then you'd sing. And you're always really good at holding that space for people just to kind of be in the music and be like, in that space. Like, I don't know, too.

That sounds funny together. Yeah. Because I don't remember that. That's hilarious. But, you know, as a songwriter, you really are a storyteller. And yeah, so one thing that I've gotten into over the last couple years is house concerts, which I love so much. Because it's such a cool way to bring people together in an intimate setting, and you really share the stories of the songs, and then you share the songs. And so that's, in a way kind of what I'm doing with speaking. So. Yeah, so it really does naturally lend itself to that. But I needed someone to point that out to me. And to train me. So yeah, it's been really good. It's been scary. I remember the first one I did last year, I was so nervous. So nervous, but but all it was so good.

So now I'm just gonna, you know, go back just a little bit, because you were you were a school counselor. You're living in Nashville. And then you made a huge, huge leap. Yeah, just tell us about that. Because we now know, like, you were singing and doing these speaking engagements, but how, what else was going on at the same time?

Yeah, so, um, so I'm gonna have down here thick of COVID starting a new job was crazy, crazy. Just because of all the COVID things and being in a school setting. I mean, it was wild. And, but it was a the best little school, like, I loved it so much wonderful people, and I felt so blessed to be there. But I still, you know, just had this desire, like, I want to do more. And as I was in that, first mastermind with artists and, and doing more songwriting, and knew I wanted to record a project, like when would that ended? I was like, okay, that's got to be my next thing, because I just, it was something I wanted to do. And just for a lot of reasons, couldn't seem to make it happen over the last two decades, time, so much time. And so I knew I wanted to do that. And then the speaking opportunity came about last year, and I had been thinking, like I said, about going part time for a long time. And so I kind of looked into that again. And just things kind of didn't work out there. And so really, really, we talked about it, we prayed about it. We I overthought the heck out of it. Because I'm really good at that. You need someone to help you think Some through you call me anyway. And so you know, Larry, for honestly, the last few years, I was like, Kristen, I want you to quit and do this, but I couldn't give myself permission to do it. And I think just, I don't know, I just came to the place where I was like, I know, this is what I need to do. I've got to take this leap. I am terrified, like terrified, frozen, paralyzed with fear. Like I literally remember saying, Larry and crying when I said it, because I was so afraid. Like, I don't think I can do this. Like, I don't think I can quit my job. I had so much fear around it. But I think when you're called to do something, like it just wouldn't leave me alone. Like it just over the years just kept coming back. And the more more I did with it, the more I was, like, I know, this is what I'm supposed to do. But I just so scared to let go. So I finally did it. So school got out. And I, I still was just not sure. Just really took some time to get quiet. And I think I printed off the resignation letter and it sat there for like a week because I was just like, I just want if I can do this made me sick. And and I just, you know, part of it too, is I just loved so much the people I was working with. And it was just a really hard thing to give up. And so I finally made the decision. And I turned in my resignation. And wow, like, I think for probably a month after I did that I went between oh my gosh, I've just ruined my life. To oh my gosh, like, I'm really doing this like, okay. Oh my gosh, it's happening. Yeah, so it was exciting, but also terrifying. And, yeah, it's been an interesting, what's it been since then six, eight months.

That's, it's been amazing, though, to, to see how you know, the progression of your journey. And you know, what it's taken to, you know, for you to get to this point, you are, you know, going to be releasing your first EP, yeah, which is very exciting after many years, many decades. And which we'll get to talking about that in just a second. But, you know, so here, you've been, you know, this, this amazing progression of, you know, going from Springfield, and all that you went through, you know, when you moved to Cincinnati and kind of, you know, learning about yourself, and, you know, being in being really wanting to be more involved in community. And that community presented itself to you in ways probably you never would have expected. Yeah, and, you know, kind of went through this process to get all the way to Nashville to almost end your career in a moat and a beautiful way to then start the next phase of your journey to begin, again. And crazy how that works. Yeah, basically, Andrea.

And so here, you are getting ready to begin again, you know, in a whole new way to start something. So what was the catalyst for this album? And for, you know, what, what is the music about? In what are the stories about in this album?

Yeah, well, it's called begin again. And here's what's cool is I started writing the title track for that, when I was in Canada, we were in Toronto on one of our it may have been the last time I was up there. In 2019, and I, we had taken a break from our retreat, and I was walking into a coffee shop, and I got this little like Melody and I actually have like, the notes like the rhythm written out in my head or on paper. And, you know, even back then, I was like, I want to do more of this. I'd like to, you know, make a career change. But I don't know how and I remember I have it still recorded. You talking to me at that retreat. And I mean, it was almost like you you It's so good to have friends like this and mentors I mean, because I consider you that to like, that can believe things for you when you can't believe in for yourself. feeling the emotions again here, but I remember you saying like, I really believe like community, that creative community you're longing for. Like I can see that for you. And I still wasn't there yet. You know, I was like, Yeah, that would be great. But, um, so I started writing that song well I was there and just about wanting to start over and like lifting that heaviness off of like, I know, this is what I need to do, but I'm terrified. And I around that time I read a book too called Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist. And good book Oh, so good. And it was one of those deals where I'm sure that the timing of it was divine, like, it really was, like, she crawled in my head and wrote how I felt. And I remember there was some quote in there that said, you can set what was it, you can start again, right now rebuild, remake your life from inside from the inside out. And I remember when I read that was like, yeah, like, that's what I want to do. You know, there was a whole lot more to it. But, um, so that was the title track. And it's just funny. The songs kind of had a similar thing, which I think, you know, a lot of songwriters, it's a form of therapy for us, as well. And so it deals with a lot of the things I've dealt with in this transformation and learning to face my fears and get unstuck. So, you know, there seems of overcoming fear or facing fear, having a little talk with myself, like, Come on, girl, get with it. But it's just, it's just really cool how, like, when I met with my producer, last year, I think it was maybe I don't know, in May. And I had sent him several songs. And just the ones, they just came together, and they just fit. So and then I released my first single last summer, which will also be on this project. And like that was just even just doing that was so exciting. Though, I feel like you know, most people have been at a point in their life where they have to begin again, whether it's after a failed relationship, failed job, you know, some kind of loss or unforeseen circumstance. So I really hope that it will, like people will relate to it, it will encourage people, I just think how Healing Music has been for me in my life, and how it's just been kind of a constant comfort and companion.

So I'm hoping that the songs will be that for people,I imagine that they completely are going to be. And, you know, I mean, I've been able to hear your songs over the years. And I'm really excited for this new journey that you're about to embark on. And I'm proud of you for taking those steps and for allowing yourself, you know, to follow your dream and to pursue what you've always had in your hearts. And really, to create this, you know, like, as Shaniqua said, you know, you can always create your life, you know, start again, again, again, create what you you desire, I think we we fall, you know, victim to, you know, our circumstance and say, Oh, I guess is just the way life is versus saying, You know what, I want to do this, I want to create this, I want to live like this, and then taking the opportunity to do it. And actually, you know, putting yourself out there. And so you're not only going to be like singing, but you're going to be speaking. And so it was so interesting. So we we reconnected again, back at the end of 2022. And you went through a VIP experience. And we talked through and it was interesting how it worked, because here you are, you've already taken the steps now, like you've already done, you know, you know what your purpose is? You're in the throes of it you're you're actually pursuing it. It's all happening. It's not like you're, you know, going to make it happen. It's happening. What was coming up for you when it came to actually out working it. Yeah, what was what was that next kind of phase? Because that's where we kind of worked together in in the VIP experience.

Yeah, so you know, transitioning to basically a small business owner, because there's lots of different things I'm doing right now. And I eat I was so used to school structure, like I had a schedule, I knew what time to be there. It was so structured. So I was really struggling with like, how do I do this, but really even more than that, like identity again, like so I'm pursuing this speaker thing and yeah, I'm so excited. Did about it? And I know I can do it. I mean, I've done it. And it's been wonderful. I've had wonderful feedback from audiences. But it was kind of like I just was still struggling to really like say, Yeah, this is what I'm doing. And I think when you, when you do make a big change like this, like, kind of my experience has been with some people, like, they think I'm nuts, or they don't quite understand it. And you know, honestly, I think, a long time, for a long time, I felt like it was selfish to pursue this maybe are irresponsible somehow. But I'm telling you what, I'm working harder than I ever have. It's so true, right? Yes. People are like, you know, when you go into work, and you're like, you don't even know. Yeah, I'm even know.

24/7. Yeah. And I'm having to learn how to set boundaries with that. And, you know, I teach lessons two, which I love. And like I said, I'm performing doing lots of different things. And so it's just, it's just learning how to come into the identity. And so the VIP experience was super helpful, was just, I guess, kind of helping me transform my belief around what I'm doing and who I am in this new role.

It's, it's taking that next step, it's like, you know, saying, okay, you know, when we learn to embody the identity of who we are, is really when we see ourselves step into that new level, that new experience, that's when we magnetize things into our lives. That's when we see so many different things happen. And so it's exciting to watch you, you know, take that step. And from an outside perspective, you know, I think we can see people and we can go Oh, yeah, I, I totally see them as a singer, songwriter, speaker, you know, but when it's us, it's harder to because we have all of these old stories and narratives playing out in the in the background, you know, which is what has kept us from doing it in the first place.

Totally. And all of a sudden, we take the step and note we're doing it. And then it's, you know, thinking, Am I really this? Is this, who I am, is this my identity, and really stepping into that next level version. I know, for myself, Kristen, you know, it's the same thing. You know, I've had, I look back, and I love music. And I don't you know, I mean, I still love, love singing and playing. I love it, love it, love it. And I thought that that's what I would do for my whole career. And but there was a part of me. And when I look back in college, that was doing stuff like I'm doing now. And but I didn't have a name for it, there wasn't any kind of job that did it. I just naturally was inclined in this way to do these things. So when, when coaching came up for me many, many years later, I was like, Yeah, this is the right fit. But I don't have context for it. I don't really step into the identity of it. And so for me, it was the same thing, like learning how to find who I am. In this, to create this for myself. And to create it in a way that is me. And I'm showing up as myself and doing it when there is not a blueprint to follow. Yeah. And you know, similarly, you, you and I both have like the same educational background, we both have a music education degree from Evangel college, university. And we both have a master's in guidance counseling from Missouri State University. We have the same career trajectory. Yeah. And we lived together, and we were both music teachers. And then we both did counseling in schools. And then we both were like, I gotta follow my dream. And we both had these, like bumps along the way to get to where we are in, in, in life, and I'm sure that there are still going to be bumps, and things that are gonna happen. But I'm excited for you, that you are moving into this next stage of your life and how you get to now share the journey.

Yeah, that's, that's really cool to be able to share that. And it's, it's neat to see the times that I have spoken. Just the impact that that's on people and how it's inspired them or encouraged them, and in totally different ways. You know, not everybody has to quit their job or not everybody. No, it's not always a huge thing. I mean, I really do believe that music is my calling. And I think I knew that for a long time. I just was afraid to really admit it and, you know, do what I needed to do to pursue that. But like when you're talking about being who you are, like, that's really vulnerable. And that's something you and I talked a lot about in the VIP experience. Because I've struggled in sharing this with people, I think, you know, it's again, it's fear of rejection or fear of people thinking, you're crazy. So as that experience really helped me to be like, No, this is who I am. And this is what I'm doing. And and it's okay.

Yeah, yeah, it is. And I hope that people hearing your story take away, you know, some take away a lot from this number one, your your journey, even, you know, started in, you know, pursuing your own dream, you know, figuring out how you could do that, taking a vulnerable step to join something virtually. And, you know, create community that way, and then doing it again, and doing it again, and doing it again, and finding people in those spaces who were going to point you in the direction that you needed to go and allowing yourself number one, to financially invest, but also to take the time to invest. Because, you know, even when, when we were doing the purpose group together in the mastermind, you were traveling to Canada multiple times. And, you know, that was not only an investment of time, but money. And, you know, but looking back on that, you know, it was setting the stage for the next part of your journey totally is going to be the next thing you were going to do. And and I look at, you know, I want to talk to clients, or even looking at my own life, there's, there are markers along the way where I did something that allowed me to do the next thing that allowed me to do the next thing. And I think sometimes we think if I just do one thing I'm gonna get there. Yeah. But oftentimes, it is one thing that leads to the next open door that leads to the next open door, and you have to continue to walk through the door.

Yeah, and I mean, every still doing that, right. 100% Yeah, like, there are many times where it's like, oh, can I stop here? And then you're like, Oh, no.

I think it's easy to look at somebody and feel like, you know, they went from this to this overnight. And, you know, like, this has been a year like years, you know, journey of journeying. And for me, and just I really feel like at the beginning. And you're right, it's like one, one small step, one small, little brave step. And then, you know, the steps sometimes get bigger and scarier, but you can take those if you hadn't started with that first small step. Yeah. Now, if you were going to, you know, share with the listener today, and they are thinking to themselves, Oh, I have a dream, I have something that I want to do. And I'm in a place where it doesn't look like this is possible. What would you say to them? I mean, kind of what I just said like it it, it is possible. And you just what's one small step you can take? You know, is it connecting with community, either in person or virtually, or finding a mentor, someone that has done that before you that can encourage you that can, like you said, point you in the right direction. Those have been like the biggest game changers for me, I would say in this journey. But it is possible, and I totally get feeling like it's not. But I think you've got to, you've got to surround yourself with people that believe in you that are like minded. Yeah, you just got to have people helping you out. Can't do it on your own.

And I know that you've had such a beautiful supportive community, your your family, Larry, your friends. We're all very excited for the release of your album. And so tell us when is it coming out? How can people get a hold of the music and get a hold of you and connect.

So the first thing all is already out that was released a few months ago, come sit down at my table. So you can find it on any streaming platform, Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, and lots of others. So the full of the release date is still not completely determined. There's still a lot of back work going in. But I did do a Kickstarter back in the fall. And so those folks will be will be getting it hopefully, beginning of March and I plan to release the first single, hopefully end of March beginning of April. So and then I will have the full so it's a six song EP that will be available on my website, probably around that time. So I would love to connect with anybody that would like to connect with me and maybe has been inspired or encouraged by my story. Um, so my website is Christian buddy music.com. And buddy is not like the word buddy. It's buddy like a friend but with an E at the end. So BDD II. And also I'm on Instagram, Kristin, buddy music, also on Facebook, but I'm probably on Instagram more.

Okay, well, we'll link all of these to the show notes. So if you're interested in connecting with Kristen, you can find her on Instagram right away. You can just look over there right now as you're listening to the podcast. But all the links for her music and how to connect with her will be available on the show notes. Kristen, thank you so much. I am so excited that we got to have this conversation. Like just to think about, you're here. It's happening.

I know. It's crazy. That's happening. Like I don't like I'm sure it sometimes you're like Kristen Boyd. Get it together. We did it. We had a lot of talks. Yeah. But you know what? I? I did see you here. Yeah, I did see you here. And just and to actually, you know, you being here. And then this is just the starting point to the next chapter is just amazing for me to even, you know, as your friend to witness to. And also I just think about the people who are going to hear your story and hear your album and and then take the next step for themselves. Yeah, however, that looks. Yeah, gonna inspire them. So that's just kind of the thing that just keeps on giving. So anyways, I'm so grateful. And thank you for being on the courage cast.

Oh, thanks for having me. This has been great. Well, friend, maybe you found yourself in parts of Kristen story, where you're ready to take that leap into the unknown and really pursue your passion. It is never too late to begin again. And I want to thank Kristin for being on the show for sharing her story with us. And if you are interested in connecting with her or you are wanting to know more about the release of her EP this spring, I encourage you to go to the show notes where all of her links will be provided for you. Reach out, connect with her and let her know what part of her story resonated with you, friend. Until next time, remember, you have everything you need to live bravely. If you like this episode of The Courage cast, we'd love to hear from you. Leave us a rating and review and while you're there, hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. Original music and production by Stephen Crelly.

EP 251 | Stepping Into Your Divine Purpose | Andrea Crisp

WITH ANDREA CRISP

“The moment you try and figure out how to surrender, you’re still trying to have control, you’re still wanting to make sure that the outcome you have is going to be in your favor. ”

— Andrea Crisp

Today I'm going to talk to you about what it takes for you to step into a new level of surrender so that you can be in the fullness of your divine purpose.

And there is no coincidence that you happen upon this podcast.So I want you to grab a coffee, a tea, glass of water, a notepad.And friend, I truly believe that there is something in store for you here in this episode today.

Connect on IG: @andreacrispcoach + @the.couragecast

Join Weekly Community Call: Mindset Mentor Circle

Book a DISCOVERY CALL: www.andreacrisp.ca/schedule

Listen Here:

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Your mindset is your greatest asset! But it is also what may be holding you back from taking that next step in your life. Are you ready to reframe your mindset so that you can step more confidently into your purpose?

Hey friends, it's me, Andrea. Usually I never start a podcast like this. But I feel compelled to really share from my heart rate from the onset of this podcast episode. Today I'm going to talk to you about what it takes for you to step into a new level of surrender. So that you can be in the fullness of your divine purpose. And there is no coincidence that you happen upon this podcast. So I want you to grab a coffee, a tea, glass of water, a notepad. And friend, I truly believe that there is something in store for you here in this episode today. Are you ready to take courageous steps to create a life and business you love?

Welcome to the Couragecast. I'm Andrea Crisp, an empowerment coach, author, and a multi passionate entrepreneur. For years, I was afraid to allow myself to shine. That was until I discovered that I could step into my own power, shift my mindset and take ownership of my destiny. Now I coach people across the globe, who are ready to own their life and make a massive impact. With a blend of practical and spiritual advice. My desire is that the courage cast empowers you to take brave steps in your own life in business.

Hello, friend, welcome to the Couragecast. I'm so glad that you're here hanging out with me today. You know, it's a Friday night when I'm recording this podcast. So right now I'm all alone with coffee. She's sitting here by big sigh, probably thinking to yourself, are you ever going to get done working today? It has been one of those days. But honestly, I have to say, you know, when the creativity just strikes, you gotta go with it. So I'm here later into a Friday evening, just feeling like you know what, I want to just press record and talk today and just really share what is on my heart. So last week on the podcast, I talked about surrender. Pretty candidly and my dad, so I wanted to follow up this week with an episode talking about what happens after we surrender. When you have like, finally waved the white flag and said to yourself, Okay, I'm ready. I'm ready to allow God the universe to take over what happens then. But if you've not already listened to last week's episode, I want to encourage you to press pause, go back, listen to that one. And then come back here.

As I mentioned, I have been on this journey to understand what surrender looks like in my life. And if I've heard him once I've heard it like a bazillion times, Andrea. The key to your success is to surrender. Andrea, the next step for you lies in surrender. And he was like, if you talk to me one more time about surrender, I am literally going to scream. Because quite honestly, I was like, I have no idea what the eff you're talking about. For real. I was like, I do not know what Surrender means I do not know how to do it. And I was like all up in my like, frustration around this notion that I needed to surrender. It didn't matter how many times people tried to tell me, I just couldn't get it. So wants to talk to you about that. Here's the thing about surrender, you have to let go of the need to know or have control over the outcome. There it is. The moment you try and figure out how to surrender, you're still trying to have control, you're still wanting to make sure that the outcome you have is going to be in your favor. Surrender means that you don't know what happens. You don't know how you're going to get there. You don't even know if you're going to get there. You're just basically going to trust that you're going to put one step in front of the other one foot in front of the other rather and hope for the best. Like literally, that's it and until you're ready to do that.

Surrender is just a word. It's just a concept. So as I'm sitting here today On this very cold, very blustery Friday, winter evening, I want to share with you what comes after surrender. Because, you know, I really believe that this is the key to you moving forward in your life. And I have this kind of like a little bit of hesitation, because I'm a bit afraid to share the next part. Because I'm wondering if I'm actually really there yet. Like, do I really have figured out? Why No, I don't have it figured out. But have I fully surrendered yet? Like, there's part of me that wonders that right. But even in the vast uncertainty of it all, which there is so much uncertainty, I am going to go ahead with telling you and share what's on my heart. Because I really believe that this is the next step for me in my journey, and also for you as well. So I titled this podcast episode stepping into your divine purpose. Because I know that there are just times when we pick up our desires and run with them. And then there are other times when we feel completely compelled to do something.

And I truly believe that there is a big difference between the two of those things. Because I've done both of them. And you can be successful doing either. But I know that in my heart of hearts, when you feel called to do something, when your heart is leading you towards something that is your Higher Self source, the divine God nudging you to move in that direction. And when that happens, that's a place of surrender. When you're just walking in your own desires, you're still in a place of controlling the outcome. Just even saying that. I don't know, just kind of like, hit me. There's a big difference. So I wanted to share a story with you today. And you may have heard this story before. I hope I can tell in a different way that you can get something completely different out of it than maybe you've gotten before. But I want to talk to you about what happened in my life many years ago, when I was a teacher at New Covenant Academy, which was in Springfield, Missouri, and I had graduated from Evangel university or Evangel college back then. And I wanted to be a singer songwriter so bad. Like, I could taste it. I was in college, I used to sing at different events. And man, I just loved it so much I would be in bands and I had a friend My friend Shane and I we sang together all the time. But the moment I graduated college, I had this like, I don't know fear set in. A lot of it had to do with just even you know, my parents wanting me to have this stable job. And of course, me feeling like I needed to have a stable job.

So I looked for teaching positions. And for the first couple of years, it was just up and down, up and down. Like I could not land a job to save my life. I ended up going back to teach it I'm actually not teaching but working at Evangel University in one of their learning labs, and I worked there for a year. And then I felt like I wanted to pursue my master's degree I felt compelled I felt called actually to pursue my master's degree at that time. And it was a three year program. And it was guidance and counseling. And I had already I had already taught for like maybe three quarters of the year at that point.

And then I was now working at Evangel. And as I was pursuing my master's degree, there was an opportunity that opened up at New Covenant Academy to be a part time music teacher. And it ended up fitting me perfectly. So the first year I worked there part time still pursuing my schooling. And the second year they hired me full time and it was probably either within my second or third year that this incident happened. Now I have to say, I loved working there, I loved my elementary principal who is my boss, I love my students, I still to this day, have friends from that time in my life. It shaped me in ways I could not fully explain to you. And I was at this point, teaching kindergarten through 12th grade music. And I had a high school choir, and a junior high choir. And I had several students within the high school choir who were extremely talented. One of which came into my room to ask me if he could play his guitar and practice for a bit. And I said, Yeah, that's no problem. So I sat at my desk and was working away. And he was practicing.

And I just like, had this thought come over me, like, I don't know, it was like maybe this feeling of jealousy, I guess, of like, how good he was, and how much opportunity was before him. And I kind of felt stuck. I was just finishing my master's, I was locked into this teaching position. Not really pursuing what I wanted to be doing, which was being a singer songwriter. And so I let this feeling come over me. And it felt really bad. Like it just I don't know, to my core, I just felt discouraged and just really like defeated. So after he left, I sat at the piano in my classroom.

And I started to play. And that is the way even to this day that I process. The moment my fingers hit those keys. It's like something magical happens in my life. And I don't know, it's like I transcend to like another dimension. And the moment that I did that, the moment I started playing and singing, I just really felt like this. I don't know, peace, but also this voice like a whisper and unknowing. And it was just this like, I guess the only way to tell you is like Andrea, if you will. If you create a platform for those people in your life, you will have a bigger platform than if you ever did it on your own. And I'm kind of paraphrasing exactly what was said. But I really felt in that moment that my mission was to come alongside the people in my life at the time were students. And I honestly can tell you like I cried my eyes out that day. I cried because there was a grief and the loss of my dream.

I cried because I was like, Oh my gosh, I feel like God, like just literally spoke to me. And I have no idea how to do this. And I cried because it was like the first time in my life where I felt absolutely compelled and called to do something greater than myself. And I say that to you because it was a part of my life. The first time I really truly understood what it meant to be called to a divine purpose. And as the years unfolded, I taught in several more schools after that. Then I ended up transitioning into full time church ministry. I led the worship for various churches and events and camps and conferences and spoke and preached and did all those things.

And it wasn't until 2010 that I started pursuing a certification and coaching. And the only reason I did was because I had a pastor at the time who really just you know, he saw me his name was Don noble. And I think that was kind of like one of the the next times in my life where I honestly felt a divine calling into something was in that moment was something I didn't really understand. But it led me on a path that has been completely uncertain at times overwhelming. And I never in my wildest imagination would have imagined I would be here at this point today. Now, the reason why I'm sharing this with you is because lately, I have felt that same nudge. Now, there was a time that I don't know maybe for, I guess, like, I would, I don't know, if it's five years, it just seems like a really fucking long time. That I feel like I've been in the wilderness. Like, I just really do, like,

What in the world, right, like, excuse my language, but I can say it no other way than that. And in the past a little bit, I have felt that nudge again, I have felt that divine calling that divine nudge to step into the unknown to a greater degree. And I probably felt it before, but just not done anything about it, because I was too afraid. And honestly, I just wanted to control the outcome. Like, that's really what it boils down to. And the feeling or the fear, or both of not being in control is the scariest thing. Because when you don't have control, when you can't control the outcome, it's like you've no idea what is coming. And I know that there are moments where I literally, I think to myself, like Oh, Andrew, you're losing it like you are literally losing it. But then I remind myself that I've been here before, in different cases, like in different instances, my life, this is not the first time that I was asked or nudged into something. And that feeling is something that is really just hard to explain.

But I know that the wilderness the time that I have spent over the past, however many years it's been, has been my healing journey has been the transformation, the breakthrough moments that I needed to evolve and to become and to and become all the things that I thought I was supposed to be, and to really step into my divine purpose, who I was graded to be. And as scary as that is, it is also so exciting. Now you may be thinking to yourself, Okay, Andrea, I just happened upon this podcast. Like I did not hear of you before this. You're going really deep. Mom. Okay. Yeah, true enough. That is definitely me. But you are here for a reason. If you happen upon this podcast today, if you are listening to this podcast, there's a nudge for you. A whisper if you listen, the divine God source, the universe is calling you into a deeper understanding of who you are. A deeper understanding of how you can live your life of how you can impact others.

And I want to encourage you today that, that whisper that nudges for you to trust it to take that next step of faith for you into the unknown into your divine purpose because you're being called to a place where you're going to be held by something much, much bigger than you. And as I have been on this journey myself, kind of unpacking it and thinking about okay, what are those next steps for me? Well, I really felt as though I wanted to offer a series. So I'm calling it the purposeful CEO. And it is a three day series where we're gonna dive deep. Like I mean, deep like this is no surface bullshit. This is lit really diving in to reconnect with your divine purpose. So if you're like, okay, yeah, I feel this, but I have no idea what to do. This is for you.

We're going to reconnect, or connect, depending on if you've never done it before, with your divine purpose. So that you can step into new level identity and embrace the abundance that is your birthright because it is part of your divine purpose. And that is going to show you how you can take aligned action. How you can do it from a different space in your life. Not out of the way you've done it before, which is just strategy, knowing, control all the things, but out of a deeper connectedness. And you may be wondering, okay, is this really for me, maybe you're new to business, maybe you're like, I don't have a business. This is, you know, I'm not a CEO, I may never be a CEO. My friend, if you are listening to this podcast today, you're here for a reason. And there is going to be something that you need to hear and implement into your life. And conversely, you might be someone who is very successful in your business, because you've done all the right things. You've taken all the action, you have somehow managed to just really blow your business up.

There's something for you here as well. There is a nudge, a whisper, a calling for you to come back to reconnect to your divine purpose. And I know that's scary, because you're like what if that changes things, my friend, if you are listening to this, this is for you. This is where you need to be. I am trusting that who needs to be in this series will be there and it is free. So you have absolutely nothing to lose, and absolutely everything to gain. Now all the information is in the show notes. So make sure that you go to the show notes and grab the link and you register for the purposeful CEO.

Friend. Thanks for hanging out with me today. I absolutely love you. And until next time, remember, you have everything you need to live bravely. If you like this episode of The Couragecast, we'd love to hear from you. Leave us a rating and review and while you're there, hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. original musical production by Steven Crelly

EP 250 | It All Starts With Surrender | Andrea Crisp

WITH ANDREA CRISP

“Surrender to the idea that you don’t have to figure out everything in advance. ”

— Andrea Crisp

The road to your future success is not paved with glitter and gold. I hate to break it to you. It's really all about releasing control, and allowing yourself to truly be seen and known for who you are.

In today's episode of The Courage cast, I'm going to talk to you about what has been happening in my personal life when it comes to surrender, and how that looks, and why I feel it is probably one of the most important things that you will have to do in order to move to the next level.

Connect on IG: @andreacrispcoach + @the.couragecast

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Your mindset is your greatest asset! But it is also what may be holding you back from taking that next step in your life. Are you ready to reframe your mindset so that you can step more confidently into your purpose?

The road to your future success is not paved with glitter and gold. I hate to break it to you. It's really all about releasing control, and allowing yourself to truly be seen and known for who you are. In today's episode of The Couragecast, I'm going to talk to you about what has been happening in my personal life when it comes to surrender, and how that looks, and why I feel it is probably one of the most important things that you will have to do in order to move to the next level.

Are you ready to take courageous steps to create a life and business you love? Welcome to the Couragecast. I'm Andrea Crisp, mindset coach, author and a multi passionate entrepreneur. For years, I was afraid to allow myself to shine. That was until I discovered that I could step into my own power, shift my mindset and take ownership of my destiny. Now I coach women across the globe who are ready to own their life and make a massive impact. With a blend of practical and spiritual advice. My hope is that the courage cast empowers you to take brave steps in your own life and business.

Hey there, welcome to the Couragecast. My name is Andrea, I am really glad that you're here today. You know, it is a Friday when I am sitting down to record this podcast episode. And honestly, it has been the most, I don't know. productive, crazy. Couple of days, I have had so many things happen in my life in the past couple of days and just felt like this flow. And normally on Fridays, I end my day and I shut down. But I have felt like there's just something that needs to come out of me. So I decided that I'm going to take the evening and I am going to allow what needs to come out to come out. And so as I was preparing for this podcast episode, I kept asking my higher self, what am I suppose to share. And I have this sense that there is something much bigger at play here. And when that happens, I need to move over and allow myself to be a channel for what God is sharing. So here is the crazy thing. You may have heard my story if you've listened to the podcast for any length of time. But when I first started the courage cast, I was still in full time ministry. So that meant I was a pastor. I was you know, working in music in the church, I was speaking I was really involved in the Christian faith. And I guess around I don't know, 2017 2018 I guess, things started to really shift in my life. And I started to evolve. And as I evolved, so did my faith, there actually came a point where I questioned absolutely everything I had ever known or ever been taught. So I called it my faith, deconstruction. Now you can listen to different podcast episodes about that process in my life. But over the past few months, something has been awakening in me. And it's this deeper connection or a reconnection to spirit. And it's, it's kind of hard to really put it into words because I'm still really trying to understand it myself. But it's as if the old part of me, the old Andrea, the old thoughts, ways of being old paradigms are fading from my purview. Like imagine like, I'm in a car, I'm driving, and I can see in the rearview mirror, my old life, just disappearing. And in this new light. Strangely, what I see is something that is familiar, something that I've always known. And it's the part of me that is so deeply connected to the divine. Now I say divine. In my context, I call that God. Maybe for you that looks different. Maybe you call it universe or source. Maybe you prefer a different way of referring to through your higher self, or what you refer to as the collective consciousness.

But for me, I call it the divine or God. And I feel this awakening my soul and a longing to be more connected to God, not in a religious way. And really not in like a super woowoo way either. Although I have to say, I've been allowing myself to experience a lot of different things that I would have never experienced before. And you'll probably hear about that more on some upcoming podcast episodes. Like for real, some crazy shit like, but very, very cool nonetheless. So here's the thing, I have spent the majority of my life trying to please those around me. And now if you'd asked me, if I was doing that, I would have said, Absolutely not like I'm not doing that. But what I really get honest, and I peel back the layers, I was always looking for validation, and acceptance from the people I really cared about people that were closest to me. Now, of course, this stems from a childhood wound, as it usually does. And my inner child, my little Andrea was looking for validation, and really looking for a sense of acceptance and belonging. And although I have an amazing family, like I really, really truly do, my parents are wonderful, I have a great brother, I've always felt loved and cared for. I never really felt as though I was completely seen or known for who I am.

Now, maybe you can relate to that maybe there is a part of you, that is in your family of origin or surrounded by people and you're like, you know what, I just really don't feel seen. Now, I attribute this to the fact that I was really not showing up as most authentic version of myself, I was hiding. And for years, I was trying to be what my family, my friends, my peers, expected of me or expected me to be. And in doing so I really dimmed the brightest parts of me. I kept them hidden. And I had this fear that if people really knew me, they would not accept me. And this fear kept me from truly showing up for myself, showing up for my life and showing up in my business. And some of the closest people to me, still only get the version of me that I allow them to see, like, Isn't that crazy. And I feel like I can say this, because there's no one sitting in front of me, except for my dog. She is sitting in front of me, and she gets to see the good, bad and the ugly. But it's really harder to express when you're really trying to be transparent or vulnerable. And you think to yourself, I really don't want everyone to know this. But I feel like I need to share this. Now. Because I was doing this because I was allowing my fear to hold me back. I was really afraid that my Christian friends, which I had many of and I still have many of they would think that I had like literally gone off the deep end, like, oh my gosh, she is into all of the whoo and the new age.

And, you know, basically she's going to hell. And I really had this fear that I would be judged for really taking a step into something that I had never stepped into before. And for allowing myself to experience things that I had never experienced. And yet on the other hand, I had this fear that the people I was meeting that were more spiritual, and maybe in this other lane would think that I am too religious, and that I am maybe to square I don't know, I can't I really didn't know the word but anyways. And then of course, there's my family. And I've always been afraid that my family just doesn't understand me, they don't understand what I do. And I've spent the greater part of the past few years dumbing down and hiding the truth of who I really am to those around me. To make it easier form out more palatable for them. And I have to say, all of this is fucking exhausting. Like, let's just be real, I am tired. I am tired of trying to navigate how others may perceive me because really, it's none of my business. So not that long ago, I came to this realization that in order for me to truly step into my divine purpose, that I need to allow myself to be seen and heard for who I am, even if I am still trying to figure that out myself, right. So, here I am, I'm like,

Okay, I'm in this place where I know I need to take this step forward, I really don't know what that looks like, oh, my gosh, I feel completely out of control. But at the end of the day, I had this sense, like, if I really want to have a successful business, if I really want to be in my purpose, then I have to allow myself to take this next step. And you may have heard this before. But because it's been said, like by many, many people, the entrepreneurial journey is probably the quickest path to self development and self actualization or self realization. If you want to have a business, then get ready for your life to be upended, including your relationships, your finances, and everything you ever thought to be true about yourself, your relationships, your really your connection to God source, the universe, all the things right. And quite frankly, I don't know that we talk about it enough, I don't think that this part of the journey is really shared all that much, because who really wants to let in everyone that knows them into like, kinda like the dark corner, right. But as coaches, entrepreneurs, or people in the creative space, you know, it's easy for us to talk about strategy are get excited about the wins or showcase the transformation after it's happened.

But we're doing a disservice to people when we don't talk about what happens in the middle, in the midst of the evolution or the transformation. Because we're not letting people in on the moments of the frustration, the fear, maybe some of the unbelief that you're having, letting go of self release, releasing the old ways of being. And I know for myself, like talking about those things has been really difficult, especially when it comes to the pain or loss of relationships, and the uncertainty of this journey. And the fear is, and this is, from my perspective, is that it's going to make us look weak. But the truth of it is, is that our lives are meant to be a reflection of the evolution that we're having every area of our life and business. And that can be messy, and complicated. Now, I'm not gonna lie, my own transformation, my own evolution, nicely transformation, like it's already happened. But let's say evolution, it has been really hard at times.

Starting with the loss of who I thought I was, right? This is the person who I had presented myself as who I had become over the years, because I had carefully constructed her over many, many years. And honestly, a thought of people seeing the real me scared the shit out of me, because if they did, they would see all the things I didn't want them to see, they would see the fear that I had around. Like just things in my life, the uncertainty of my future, the anxiety that I feel on a day to day basis, or rejection. And one of my greatest fears, which I really don't talk about that often was really just being alone, isolated. And yet, in my isolation, I was the one keeping myself alone and in the dark, and hidden. Which is like quite the dichotomy if you really, really think about it, right? I was afraid of being alone, and yet I'm keeping myself alone. So maybe you're wondering, okay, Andrea, why are you sharing this? Like, what? What is the point of sharing all of this with us? Okay, so my dear friend, I want you to know that it's okay to be you. That it's okay to be fully seen, that it's okay to be fully known. And that you don't have to put on airs or show up a certain way. In order to be approved of or validated. You can come man See an undone and unbecoming.

Because that's entirely what is going to be necessary for you to step into that next season of your life and business. If you come in picture perfect, needing to have all your eyes dotted and your T's crossed, and really, like, just feeling so amazing, and, you know, I'm so sure of myself, I would really, I would really second guess whether or not you're going to move to the next season of your life. I mean, it's one thing to have certainty. And it's another to just really think that you have it all together. And the moment we think we have it all together, and we have it all figured out, is a moment thing start to come on done. In the moment, we're called into the next level of surrender. And the reason why I want to share this with you is because behind the scenes, when you see someone moving into that next level for themselves, that next season of life, there is something going on behind the scenes that you don't see that you are not privy to. And you might be wondering, why are they moving into that? What is happening there? In the end? Really, the answer is, you don't know.

We don't know what's happening behind the scenes, when it comes to watching people's lives, and success. Unfold. And the truth is that people are not going to know what goes on behind the scenes in your life, either. And even with me recording this podcast episode, and sharing that this is happening, you really don't have that understanding of really what's happening in my life, right? Like, I can talk about it, I can share about it, I can tell you, but you don't really know. And so in those moments, when we get caught up in wanting to compare ourselves, or judge someone for where we think they're at, our perception of where we think they're at, or how they got there, or what's going on, or how much money they're making or any of those things. First of all, a it's none of our business. But B it's really actually keeping us from moving forward ourselves. It's really only when we allow ourselves to release control, that we can step into that moment of surrender.

Surrender to the possibility that you really don't know everything. I mean, come on now, right? Surrender to the idea that you don't have to figure out everything in advance. That one is a hard one for me. Because let me tell ya, I want to know, I want to know what's coming. I want to be prepared. I want to have a spreadsheet. I want to have some sort of structure or routine. I want to know all the things. Surrender to just being seen as you are, even when you're evolving. Even when you're a hot mess. Even when things don't look pretty surrender to just being seen and known. Surrender to being misunderstood by the people you love and who love you and know that's okay. They don't have to get it. They don't have to know. They don't have to understand and surrender to the fear and the insecurities that you have in your life right now. At this present time, so that you can move through them. Because it's okay, when the fear comes up.

And it's okay when the insecurities are there. They are just a way for you to see what you need to work through in your life. What is coming up for you. And in order for you to really step into that next season that next level you're going Need to have to release control and surrender. I really almost hesitated to say this, but I've just felt it like so much to say it. But like die to self, and allow God to do in and through you what you could not ever possibly do for yourself knowing that you are held and supported by the universe, that what is happening is for you. And I know that sometimes it's so hard. And this is the part of the transformation that takes place in our lives that we really don't want to talk about. Because this is the place where we're coming undone. This is the place where we fear people won't want to be around us or to know us or to work with us. Because what if they possibly knew all of these things about me, they could never trust me or so we think. But the more you lean into this work, the more you are honest and real and upfront with yourself. More so than anyone else is how you are going to have that transformation in your life by truly releasing control, and surrendering to what could be for your life. Now, friend, next week, I want to continue this conversation. I guess it's conversation but monologue. I don't know.

Continue what I'm talking about by sharing what it's like when you step into your divine purpose. Knowing that you have been called to something greater than what you could do on your own. So make sure that you catch next week's episode, because it's going to be a good one. And if this has resonated with you today, I want you to let me know. And please share it with someone. Tag me. Let me know what your takeaways are. One of the best ways for me to really receive from you in the energy exchange when it comes to what I'm putting out here on the podcast is for you to reciprocate by other communicating back to me sharing the episode and just letting me know that you got it. And then I know Okay, yeah.

All right, keep going on this path. And friend, trust that you are being led, you're being guided, that God universe source is working everything out for your benefit. And I'm going to be hosting a brand new series called the purposeful CEO and is coming up. The information is in the show notes so you can access it there. We're gonna be talking about how to reconnect your purpose, your divine purpose, with your CEO energy. really leaning into having that mindset, that abundance is your birthright. And having that self trust to know how you can take aligned action, all from the place of your divine purpose. Now, this is a series that I truly believe, no matter what stage of business you're at, it is going to be beneficial for you, whether you're starting out, or whether you're uber successful. I really believe that there are going to be some things in there that are going to help you get to the next level and really unpack where you are now and how you can move forward and how you can reconnect to your divine purpose. So if you're interested in that, make sure you check the show notes for the link to sign up. And I I honestly just cannot wait I cannot wait to run this series.

So friend, thank you for hanging out with me today. I love you. Until next time, remember, you have everything you need to live briefly. If you like this episode of The Courage cast, we'd love to hear from you. Leave us a rating review and while you're there, hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. Original music and production by Stephen Crelly.

EP 249| Are You In Energy Of What You Desire | Andrea Crisp

WITH ANDREA CRISP

“ Be in the present, be mindful, have clear intentions around what you desire, and really set that emotional setpoint to be able to receive it, and then take aligned action out of the new beliefs that you have for yourself and for your life. ”

— Andrea Crisp

Are you in the energy of what you desire? Or are you going back and forth between being committed to what you want and really not sure that you expect it all that much?

Today on the podcast, I'm going to talk to you about staying committed and being in the energy of your desired outcome.

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Your mindset is your greatest asset! But it is also what may be holding you back from taking that next step in your life. Are you ready to reframe your mindset so that you can step more confidently into your purpose?

Achieving the success that you want and desire in your life and business is going to require that you have a new level of awareness and expanded level of consciousness in order to hold space for what is coming in for you to truly show up as the person who can hold space for that. Today on the podcast, I want to talk to you about my own journey and how I have personally started to awaken to my own expanded level of consciousness. Are you ready to take courageous steps to create a life and business you love?

Welcome to the Couragecast. I'm Andrea Crisp, mindset coach, author and a multi passionate entrepreneur. For years, I was afraid to allow myself to shine. That was until I discovered that I could step into my own power, shift my mindset and take ownership of my destiny. Now I coach women across the globe who are ready to own their life and make a massive impact. With a blend of practical and spiritual advice. My hope is that the courage cast empowers you to take brave steps in your own life and business.

Hey there, welcome to the Couragecast. I'm Andrea, I am so glad that you are joining me today. You know, I have been thinking a lot about the topic that I'm going to talk about today. And it's really all about expanding our level of awareness, or expanding our level of consciousness, which is a word that only, and the past few years that I've really began to understand. And if you have ever, you know, done any mindset work, you have probably really worked in the subconscious and really integrating that into the conscious mind. And so we're going to talk about what does it look like when you expand your level of consciousness. But before we do that, I want to start by telling you a quick story. In high school, I really struggled with math. In fact, I was so bad at math that I needed a friend to tutor me. And it actually took me taking grade 10 math three times to even pass the class.

Now, some of you may have heard this story. So I'm not going to go way into depth on it. But literally after the third time of taking the class, I barely passed, the only reason I did was because I had switched from taking math and French two times to an English class the third time, and I'm pretty sure that my teacher took pity on me and passed me just to get me out of the class and to graduate me because I was literally a year from graduating from high school. And the entire class that I was in at the time was filled with 10th graders, so pretty sure that the teacher took pity on me. But for years, I held this belief that I was not good at math, and for obvious reasons. But here's the thing, that really wasn't true. I just did not have the awareness, I needed to be good at math. And my dad had also failed his math classes in high school as well. And so I already had this, you know, idea that I wasn't that great. Anyways. So when it came to college, I had to take math courses to, you know, take some regular core classes. And as soon as I found out that I needed to take these math classes, I was like, Oh my gosh, this is the worst. Now I'm going to take math classes again, and likely fail them because I assumed that I was going to struggle again, with math.

But the most amazing thing happened. I passed both of those math classes. Yeah, I mean, even I'm surprised. And quite easily, in fact, and it wasn't, you know, I'm not really sure if it was the environment that I was in, if it was the professor of my math class really doesn't matter. The point is, is that I was open to learning. And when I was open to learning and when I was open to this new way of being in college, suddenly everything I needed was there. The answers were there. The capacity to understand the concepts were there. Everything had expanded to allow me to take in the Use new learnings. Now, how many times have you found yourself in a position where you are basically writing yourself off before you even start something before you even begin? On a project, you take a leap in your business, because you are afraid that you will not have capacity for that, maybe you feel like you're not gonna be able to learn it, maybe you feel like you're too old to start something new, maybe you just feel like, there's just no way that you're gonna be able to figure it out, especially when it comes to tech.

And let's be real here, since I live around seniors with my parents who are both in their 70s. And I spend quite a considerable amount of time with my aunts and uncles who are in their late 60s and early 70s. I see that quite a bit where it's almost as though when there's something new to be learned, they want absolutely nothing to do with it. And even more so than just learning something new, especially when it comes to tech. It's really all about like, how the world is changing, and how there's new concepts and new ways of being in the world. And, you know, I can see, you know, especially from my parents vantage point, how difficult it is to, you know, integrate new concepts and new things that they're learning because the capacity that they have been operating at is at one level. But what is required for us to get to the next level is a new level of awareness, it is expanding our level of consciousness.

And here's the thing, we all may struggle with this to some degree. Because on the other side of that is like the fear of the unknown, maybe there's some uncertainty around what could possibly happen or not happen. And that can be scary that can, you know, feel like you know, a little bit intimidating to think about, well, I don't really know what might happen. When I take this next step, I don't know, you know, what's on the other side of, you know, growth in my business, I don't know what's on the other side of when I become successful in my business. So I don't want to get to that point. But in order for us to truly get to that next level in our lives, both personally and professionally, we have to expand our level of consciousness. And that means and includes the fact that we have to learn new things, we have to be open to growth, we have to be open to really allowing ourselves to experience something very new. And this only came to my awareness, when I started down the journey to heal myself, body, soul, and spirit. And I've talked at length about my own personal story that I had struggled with anxiety and depression. And when I decided that it was time to really deal with it, and to actually start moving myself into that healing journey, that is when I had to expand my own level of awareness, because there were many, many things that I tried along the way. And that I did that prior to really making that leap, I would have been like, there is absolutely no way I'm doing that. I am not going to believe in that. I'm not going to, you know, participate in that. And because my level of awareness was very, very small and very limited. And that came out of living out of a very small paradigm.

And a lot of that was self imposed. It came right directly from my own perceived religious beliefs. And I'm saying that in that context, because not every religious belief, you know, has this context. But for me, specifically, it did. And I found myself being one of those types of people who really liked to do the right thing. I wanted to get everything perfectly, I wanted to always kind of be validated in what I did. And I felt as though if I could meet the expectation of God, by doing the right thing, then I was going to find favor with God. And so anything that felt like a departure from my faith was definitely not something that I was going to even consider. So when it came to things like manifestation or you know, really looking in the subconscious, I was, like, just really scared about I was scared of it.

I was like, you know, I don't know what this means. I don't know what this is. I have no idea. You know what is going to happen if I kind of dive into this? This is Black Magic like these things. And just even recently, I had my first experience with Akashic records. And if you don't know anything about that you might want to take, you might want to look that up. But it was really going into past life. And for a long time, I had this belief around the fact that I've only had one life, and I never would have had multiple lives and been reincarnated or all those things. So really expanding my own level of consciousness has been a journey.

And if you're listening to this right now, and you're like, oh, my gosh, what the heck is she talking about? How in the world could I possibly venture down this? I just wanted to take a deep breath. It's okay. It's all right. I'm not going into that any further. But I remember, specifically, my mom saying to me, when I was this is years ago, when I was really, really strong in my faith journey, my Christian faith journey, my mom would say to me, be careful, Andrea, your halo just may come around and strangle you. So I have to laugh. Because, you know, there was I was like, the quote that they would use is like, you're so heavenly minded, you're no earthly good. And that was basically me, which also meant that my level of consciousness was not expanded. So needless to say, things have definitely shifted in my life. And I'm really, really trying to expose myself to new things, and I'm learning new things and realizing that I just don't know everything.

And there's no way for me to possibly be, you know, on top of all of this stuff, like I have to learn as I go, and I have to expand myself. And so I encourage you, when you are trying to get to the next level in your own life, that you are also going to have to expand your level of awareness and your level of consciousness. So I have four thoughts for different areas that I believe will help to do this. Okay? Because I don't want to just leave you with this thought and be like, Okay, well, how do I even do that? How would I possibly expand my level of consciousness, to go to the next level in my life and in my business, so the first one is awaken. And what awaken is, is really asking yourself, what do you truly desire, and really getting clear about what it is that you want in your life, because in order for you to really awaken to new possibilities, you have to be clear about what it is that you desire. Because when you become I guess awakened to the possibilities, that is when the possibilities will be presented to you. And you have, at that point, the option of whether or not you're ready to shift into that new paradigm into those new thoughts, to create a new reality.

Or you can stay in the reality you are in now. My friend recently sent me this meme, I guess it was like a recording of Fox News. And it was talking about all of these different correspondents saying different things about being woke. And I laughed so hard, because I was thinking to myself, how, you know, they were trying to persuade people to not be woke. And when you think about that, I'm like, really? Do you not want people to have a expanded level of awareness of life and things around them? And the possibilities and apparently not. And so like that example, right, there is you know, sometimes society wants to keep us in this tunnel vision. In this one version of the way we should be living this one version of the way we can do things this one way, so that it does not challenge anybody else to have to change or to be different in any way because that's scary.

So, when you are really expanding your level of consciousness, the first step is awakening to it. Awakening to the desire, awakening to the possibility and allowing your Self to call in those different possibilities that will turn into a new reality. The second one is live mindfully. And when I say live mindfully, what I really mean is, is so important for us to be in the here and now. And to really be in the present moment, because oftentimes, we can be stuck in the past, we can be stuck in the limiting beliefs, we can be stuck in the old loops and the old narratives. And that could cause us to not take action, or to be in fear or to, you know, really just think that there's no way that we could possibly ever have what we desire. Or you might be conversely, on the other side, in the future, so afraid of what you don't know or the unknown, that you're like, there's no way I fear the unknown, or the uncertainty or the change, and I don't want anything to do with it. So in order for you to expand your level of consciousness or awareness, you have to live mindfully, be in the present, become aware of those subconscious beliefs that are running the show, that are keeping you where you are now, so that you can shift them, and you can start living consciously in a new way that will allow you to move forward within your life.

The third one is intentions. And this is really all about knowing exactly what you want to see manifest within your life, and then changing your emotional setpoint that you can call it in. Because oftentimes, when we have an intention for what we desire, we may be operating out of an old emotional setpoint, where we could not possibly call him what we want, because we are in a completely different mindset. And we might be even operating out of that old mindset and operating out of those old emotions, and maybe they're stuck emotions. And so in order for you to truly move forward, you have to set your intentions on what you desire, and then change your emotional setpoint. And really get clear on what it is that you want to call in. So that you can move into that new way of being. Because in order for you to manifest into your life, into your business, what you desire, you have to have a different emotional setpoint different vibe, if you know that makes it easier for you to understand different level of frequency different vibration level.

So you know, lots of people say hi vibe, basically, you have to be that, okay. And the fourth one is action. So the conscious can change. But you have to give the subconscious direct commands, in order for you to be able to shift your paradigm. So if your subconscious, which is running the show, is, you know, working on these old beliefs and these old patterns, you have to first of all, give it a new command, you have to shift those beliefs, and then integrate it into your conscious decision making, which is really where you're taking action in your life. So when you are trying to consciously change things, without doing the subconscious work, you're going to constantly be bumping up against those old stories and those old paradigms because they have not been shifted and changed. And you're trying to do these new things with an old default setting.

So you really want to shift the subconscious. And then allow yourself to consciously make these new decisions and take aligned actions in order to get the results that you want. When it comes to expanding your level of consciousness, and awareness, in order for you to really achieve your results and the things that you desire in your life, you have to expand, you have to allow your whole being to expand to hold space for what is new and what is coming. Because the reason you don't have it is because you haven't expanded to receive it yet. And in order for you to receive you have to make those shifts and those changes To hold space.

Now, you may have seen that people, you know, celebrities, sometimes famous people influencers, they might get a lot of fame, or notoriety or influence or money, celebrity status really, really quickly, and then they will fizzle out, or they won't be able to hold capacity for it, maybe they'll have some sort of a breakdown or something will happen. And generally speaking, why that would happen is because they don't have the level of awareness and the level of consciousness to hold what came for them. So even though they had the desire for it, and it came, they couldn't hold it. And so they immediately revert back to their old ways of being, which do not support the new desires that they had for their lives. So in order for you to really have the success you want, you have to shift your level of consciousness, your level of awareness around what is possible for you, so that you can hold space for what is coming, and be able to operate out of that new way of being so waken to the possibilities.

Be in the present, be mindful, have clear intentions around what you desire, and really set that emotional setpoint to be able to receive it, and then take aligned action out of the new beliefs that you have for yourself and for your life. Okay, friend, I hope that is super helpful. I want to know, how are you going to take action to really expand your level of awareness? I would love to know. I want you to go over to Instagram. Find me at Andrea Crisp Coach, and let me know what action steps you're gonna take today, this week, to really expand your level of consciousness.

Friend love hanging out with you. Until next time, remember, you have everything you need to live bravely. If you liked this episode of The Couragecast, we'd love to hear from you. Leave us a rating review. And while you're there, hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. Original music and production by Steven Crelly